An Australian artist has been rescuing and rehabilitating Bratz dolls from op-shops around Tasmania and then swaps their "high-maintenance glitz 'n' glamour for down-to-earth style."
Artist Sonia Singh, after "rescuing" the dolls, repaints their faces to replace their unnaturally large, heavily made-up eyes and lips with more realistically sized features, remoulds their feet so they fit into flat rather than high-heeled shoes, reconditions their hair, makes homemade clothes for them, and then photographs them "playing outside the way kids should," Stuff.co.nz reported.
Singh wrote on her Tumblr blog, titled 'Tree Change Dolls,' that she grew up playing with second-hand dolls and finds satisfaction in giving discarded items like these Bratz dolls, which have been widely criticized since they hit the shelves in 2001, a new lease on life.
Singh has described the project as "Snog Marry Avoid for dolls," after the British television show which encouraged heavily made-up women to undergo "make-unders," swapping their fake tan and hair extensions for a more "natural look."
Singh is planning to set up an Etsy store, where people will be able to buy Tree Change Dolls, and each purchased doll will also come with a "before" picture showing how it looked prior to its transformation.