Vasilisa the Brave is a heroine from Russian folklore, a child who journeys through the dark forest to face the fearsome Baba Yaga in search of fire, or perhaps more truly, light. Her story is one of inherited wisdom, courage and intuition, the quiet magic passed down through the female line.
This sculpture reimagines Vasilisa’s enchanted companion, a doll infused with forest magic and ancestral love. Her antlers mark her connection to the wild and unseen realms of nature, while her clothing draws from traditional Russian dress, lovingly made from recycled fabrics, antique lace and mourning beads. In her chest blooms a white flower or lotus, found on a local beach clean, a treasure reclaimed and transformed, symbolising the beauty of reusing and re-enchanting what has been discarded.
Within her soft body rest hidden charms. A quartz crystal for cleansing and renewal, lavender for calm and connection, cleavers for release and emotional balance, and vervain for protection and empowerment. She carries, too, the Skull of Light, Baba Yaga’s gift of illumination. A reminder that wisdom often comes through facing the shadows.
When she is not in use, Vasilisa’s Doll rests within her clock-box home, a wooden shrine overgrown with Goldchild Ivy, representing eternal life and resilience. Inside, tiny objects tell fragments of her tale: bottles of grains, folded fabrics, a miniature iron and broom, symbols of the impossible tasks she completed with quiet help and faith.
Two golden hands reach towards each other across generations, one of the mother, one of the child. In the palm of the mother’s hand is a lotus, cast from the flower in Vasilisa’s heart, representing rebirth and the immortality of love through lineage. The child’s hand bears a face, a whisper of the generations to come.
Vasilisa’s Doll is a story of strength and grace, a reminder that within every act of care, every handmade stitch, and every reclaimed fragment, there lies a spark of magic waiting to be rekindled.
