Human barbie is only getting stranger
Of all the stars to be born on the Internet, one of the strangest is surely Valeria Lukyanova, otherwise known as the "Human Barbie." While critiquing the Barbie archetype and promoting a realistic body image has been a popular trend online and in digital art lately, Lukyanova has gone the opposite route. The Ukrainian model's physique is her medium, and she's consciously transformed herself into a living doll.
When images of Lukyanova first began circulating in 2012, some news outlets called her a fake. But since then, she's
done a number of interviews and has been the subject of a short documentary . In a world overrun with airbrushed images, stick-thin models, a multibillion-dollar cosmetic surgery industry, and distorted ideas about what real women should look like, Human Barbie has touched a cultural nerve.
Researcher and artist Nickolay Lamm said that discounting Lukyanova as a freak or curiosity because she's so outrageous is a mistake and believes that she's emblematic of what can happen when girls internalize idealized proportions, like those of Barbie dolls. "Young women who are healthy and fit, say 'I need to lose some weight,'" he said. "Who are they comparing themselves to?"
Lamm has created a number of viral art projects that address Barbie and other fashion dolls and their impact on the body images of girls and young women. He's airbrushed the makeup off of dools , created diagrams of what women would look like with Barbie's measurements, and designed a Barbie with natural properties "She is so extreme that people think she's a crazy weirdo and don't look at
the bigger, much more silent problem of young girls trying to achieve an impossible ideal."
She time-travels and communes with aliens. Lukyanova, who describes herself as a New Age guru, told the Daily Beast in August that she started having out-of-body experiences as a child and now visits with people from other civilizations. She can also travel to other planets and communicates with aliens using light (though she doesn't explain the mechanics of this extraordinary feat).
Another pic after the cut
She's married (but not necessarily to a human). Although Lukyanova says she's known her husband for 10 years, and he is a friend of her father's, when asked in the same interview if he is human, she pointedly says she doesn't want to discuss that.
Of all the stars to be born on the Internet, one of the strangest is surely Valeria Lukyanova, otherwise known as the "Human Barbie." While critiquing the Barbie archetype and promoting a realistic body image has been a popular trend online and in digital art lately, Lukyanova has gone the opposite route. The Ukrainian model's physique is her medium, and she's consciously transformed herself into a living doll.
done a number of interviews and has been the subject of a short documentary . In a world overrun with airbrushed images, stick-thin models, a multibillion-dollar cosmetic surgery industry, and distorted ideas about what real women should look like, Human Barbie has touched a cultural nerve.
Researcher and artist Nickolay Lamm said that discounting Lukyanova as a freak or curiosity because she's so outrageous is a mistake and believes that she's emblematic of what can happen when girls internalize idealized proportions, like those of Barbie dolls. "Young women who are healthy and fit, say 'I need to lose some weight,'" he said. "Who are they comparing themselves to?"
Lamm has created a number of viral art projects that address Barbie and other fashion dolls and their impact on the body images of girls and young women. He's airbrushed the makeup off of dools , created diagrams of what women would look like with Barbie's measurements, and designed a Barbie with natural properties "She is so extreme that people think she's a crazy weirdo and don't look at
the bigger, much more silent problem of young girls trying to achieve an impossible ideal."
Lukyanova's anime-like appearance has even spawned other saucer-eyed, wasp-waisted copycats such as Anastasiya Shpagina (who reportedly is also her best friend), KotaKoti , and Angelica Kenova . Everything she does seems to be focused on grabbing attention ,
so it's not all that surprising that the (unconfirmed) 24-year-old
managed to capture a little more of the media spotlight throughout the
year, thanks to her bizarre, bold, and baffling claims. Here, a sampling
of her most interesting of 2013.
She time-travels and communes with aliens. Lukyanova, who describes herself as a New Age guru, told the Daily Beast in August that she started having out-of-body experiences as a child and now visits with people from other civilizations. She can also travel to other planets and communicates with aliens using light (though she doesn't explain the mechanics of this extraordinary feat).
Another pic after the cut
She's married (but not necessarily to a human). Although Lukyanova says she's known her husband for 10 years, and he is a friend of her father's, when asked in the same interview if he is human, she pointedly says she doesn't want to discuss that.
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