Tay Freitas

 Interview by

MacPherson Arts & Crafts

1. Where are you from and where do you live now?
I am from Brazil. I still live in the same city I was born, Fortaleza.

2. Have you always been interested in dolls?
Yes, I have always loved dolls. I say I got that passion from my great-grandmother, she had many dolls and loved to give dolls to me when I was a little girl.

3. When did you first become interested in sculpting?
When I was 12/13 years old, I used to make little animals with play dough when I was bored. After seeing my creations, my dear grandma Nancy gave me a set of air dry clay and modeling tools. Since then I never stopped working with clay.

4. How did you first encounter reborn dolls?
On TV shows.

5. Have you sculpted dolls from the time you started sculpting, or did you start off with something else?
I started sculpting decorations for birthday parties, characters from cartoons and custom figures.

6. How long have you been sculpting?
I started to "play with clay" in 2007. But only in 2014 I had my first attempt to sculpt babies.

7. What medium do you use to sculpt your babies with?
Until 2020 I used to sculpt with a kind of air dry clay very popular in Brazil, made with white glue and cornstarch. But since 2021 I have been using polymer clay to sculpt my babies.

8. What inspires & motivates you to sculpt?
Peace of mind.

9. Do you sculpt full time & do you have other hobbies?
I do not sculpt full time.

10. Do you only sculpt for kit production or do you do custom ~ portrait orders too?
I sculpt mostly One-of-a-Kind mini babies, some of wrich are custom portrait orders.

11. When did your first kit come out and what was the baby's name?
In June 2021, the baby's name was Serena and sthe kit was produced by MacPherson

12. How many kits have you produced to date?
I have sculpted four babies that were produced into vinyl kits. They were not produced by me, though.

13. Do you have a list of names of all of your kits you have produced as we would love to have an archive directory for your sculpts?
Serena, John John, Ayla and Luke.

14. Which baby of yours has been your all time favorite and why?
It's hard to pick only one, but I choose a preemie sized OOAK baby boy that I sculpted in 2019 and belongs to my personal collection. There's something about his expression that catches my heart, also I find him very unique.

15. Do you plan to continue sculpting babies for kits?
At this moment I really don't know. Sculpting natural size babies takes a lot of time, energy and inspiration. The final result is so worth it and rewarding, but till you get there there's quite a process.

16. How do you feel about the reborn doll industry? What excites you and what upsets you?
The progress of the art itself is exciting. To see the reborn babies looking every time more realistic and artists outdoing themselves is fascinating. What upsets me? Its not related to industry per se, but I find annoying when people that aren't into this hobby judge and criticize someone's passion for dolls. They are not just dolls, they are Art.

17. How do you feel about the progression of the art of reborning over the past 10 years?
I feel proud of how much this beautiful art, sculpting and reborning, progressed.

18. Do you think that this industry has a long term future or do you think its just a fad that will blow over?
I think people's love for dolls will last long, so I hope that the reborn doll industry will as well, consequently.

19.What are your plans and hopes for the future?
I don't have plans for the future regarding my art, I usually just let it happen. But I hope to have inspiration for many years to keep sculpting those little ones that we love to much.

20. Do you have something new in the works?
As for vinyl kits, no.