Once Upon a Doll

Raquel Caballero

4 July - 1 November 2026

Sydney artist Raquel Caballero unveils a lavish new body of work celebrating the make-believe world of dolls and the eccentricities of those who collect them. Blending papier-mâché, textiles and recycled materials, she stages a series of exuberant tableaux where her idols are reimagined as pint-sized demigods.

Drawing inspiration from artists such as Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Vera Cervenka and Sarah Pucci, Caballero embraces what she calls “hardcore craft” — a brightly coloured, heavily embellished kind of folk maximalism. Through this joyous act of devotion and display, she transforms decoration into a form of resistance and play.

Commissioned and presented by Wollongong Art Gallery.

Image: Raquel Caballero, doll collection display at Heaven Studios (detail), 2025. Courtesy of the artist.