Greek Pagan Folktales: Οι αδερφές/ The Stepsisters (Crete) by artist Anima ex Manus Art Dolls

Mixed media: wire armature, mixture of polymer clays, soft body, vintage and found fabrics and trims, silk, silk threads, lace, gauze, leather. Her/ their arms and legs are poseable and their eyes are glass. The tiny roses and snakes on their faces are also handmade by me. They are painted with soft pastels, acrylics and watercolors, and sealed with matte and gloss varnish. She has a loop on her back, to display on the wall.

Height: approx. 45 cm/ 17.7 inches

Once, there were two stepsisters. The first was a loving, warm-hearted girl, but the second was vicious and unkind. One day, their parents asked the first one to go to the spring, to bring some water with the pitcher. The kind girl took the pitcher, went to the spring and filled it up. On the way back, she saw her Fate, who asked her for some water, as she was tired and thirsty. The kind girl happily gave it to her Fate, who then gave her blessing to the girl: diamonds would be falling off her eyes, and beautiful, fragrant roses out of her lips. When she came back home, her stepmother and stepsister got so jealous, that they decided to ask for the Fate’s gifts too. But they didn’t know how the kind daughter got her Fate’s blessing. The unkind girl took the pitcher and went to the spring. On the way back, when she met her tired and thirsty Fate, who asked her for some water, she refused and told her to go all the way to the spring herself. The Fate cursed the unkind girl: lizards and snakes would be falling off her eyes and lips.