I went into the exhibition under the impression that it was going to be more of Kiely's most famous stem print which is really not to my taste at all. However I was pleasantly surprised with the playfulness of the show. Drawing inspiration from her childhood in Ireland during the 60s and 70s it is clear that her childlike playfulness and curiosity has not left her creative process in the works in this exhibition. The larger than life-sized 'create your own dress up doll' was by far the most entertaining aspect as you could spin the wooden blocks to change the painted dolls outfit from the original design to create multiple new designs from the same few elements. This reminded me so much of the pick and mix people game i used to have as a kid where you could swap the bodies, legs and heads of different animals and people. The other childlike element was that her giant oversized tunic dresses were also shown on tiny framed wooden dolls; going from one extreme size to another. The dolls were pretty much exactly the same in detail and pattern just on a miniature scale and it was interesting to see the development from something small-scale to large-scale. The large scale dresses were very simplistic in shape and were quite boxy which reminded me of my style of drawing when planning a piece. They were also so large that if they were worn on even a tall person they would have completely drowned them, making them unfunctional as clothing but able to work on a sculptural level. This also reminded me of my own work.
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