Meet the Queen Sea PriestessVinsantos has created his first free standing sculpture and she is a sight to behold. Over the years I've had the good fortune of gathering some amazing collectors, some of which have become good friends. I love to collaborate with them and create pieces that I might never have thought up on my own. Early last year, I was spending time with one of my favorites and she asked me if I would ever make a doll WITHOUT a box! This warped my brain just a little.The housing and framing of my dolls was always a part of the work and the process. I couldn't wrap my head on how this might even be possible. The thought of it stayed with me and sometimes even kept me up at night. Some months later, I connected with a friend who is a master metal fabricator. This was just a social call, but I presented this idea to him and we both agreed to think about it. Mostly because we are busy gals. Well, a few months back we sat down and hatched a plan to make this daydream a reality. We designed an armature that could be welded to a heavy metal base, strong enough for me to sculpt on. The result is my first ever free standing Sea Priestess. I call her the Queen Sea Priestess because she is above and beyond anything I've attempted so far. Her heavy steel base measures 10.5 inches in diameter. From there, this siren twists and turns her way upward to a stunning 32 inches in height. She is head to tail, front to back, and side to side encrusted with some of the most beautiful Vintage and Antique jewelry, baubles, bangles, crystals and rare ephemera from my vast and ever growing collection. Her eyes are Vintage hand blown glass from Germany. Even the base that she rests on is beaded to death, creating the ultimate sea floor. You can watch a video HERE (https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1052091406) that shows her full glory in a few different settings including the Great Mississippi Snow Storm of 2025. 

As much as I want to keep her for myself and build an entire room around her, selling my dolls is my job. Also, I have a feeling she is only the first of many to come. The Sea Priestess is only one of the hundreds of characters that I've created over the last 12 years as a doll maker. For some reason, she is my favorite character to make. Maybe it's her attitude. Maybe it's her extreme bling. Maybe it's all those things and more. You see, she and I share somewhat of a similar backstory. Back in 2010, I was sentenced to work in The French Market in New Orleans. At the time I wasn't working as a visual artist. I was selling things made by other hands. Sprinkled throughout the endless lanes of knock off designer handbags, gaudy plastic crosses, and household items that tourists would stuff into their suitcases just to haul them through countless airports, when they could have just bought these same items at home, were true artisans and craft makers. They were making a living doing what they love and I thought to myself "I know how to make stuff." That was the beginning of my epic journey that led me to where I am today. For those of you that were a part of my humble beginnings, you might remember my collage/mosaic tableaus. They were small but mighty. They were crude and rough around the edges but completely original. They were always character based. I would create the characters out of shards of old mosaic glass from my previous career and place them in French Quarter settings that included original poetry I would concoct by cutting up old books and finding new stories within those words. Soon after, I started to collect shiny broken pieces of jewelry and random found objects right off the floor of the Market. The aisles of the French Market turned out to be a goldmine of poorly manufactured bling that the tourists just couldn't resist! I incorporated these pieces into my characters and they grew larger and more glamorous and into the more refined works you see today. I pride myself on making something that I haven't quite seen before. It is a combination of sculpture, painting, assemblage, mosaic, hair and makeup, carpentry, preservation, and fashion design all rolled into one.

 But enough about me. Let's get back to my muse. For many centuries and beyond, mermaids have spanned the folklore and mythologies of cultures around the globe. From the Irish born Merrows to the freshwater Niaids to La Tlanchana of Mexico, these underwater supermodels have always enchanted us. My Sea Priestesses hail from the crystal clear waters of the Bermuda Triangle. They were known for their love of the ultra glamorous and were experts in finding the most elegant hidden treasures, both natural and man made. They would scour the sea floor for precious rock formations and organic gems. In the 1840s, when the popularity of commercial cruise ships took hold, they began to find new things not found in the natural world. Garish costume jewelry mistakenly dropped overboard during a family photo shoot on "formal night'. Discarded wedding rings from jilted lovers thrown into the sea in a bout of passion and anger. Tiaras from wannabe princesses snatched off their heads by their mischievous and bratty brothers. Entire treasure chests worth thousands to millions of dollars that had slid into the waters during vicious and uncontrollable storms. The Sea Priestesses now had an entire mall of finery to choose from. They would hold grand pageants showing off their elaborate costumes made by these scavenged items. This is where the story takes somewhat of a dark turn. It was around the end of the last century that their flamboyant looks started to attract attention. Their jewels and crystals glistened both in the sun and in the moonlight. Marauding pirates were especially attracted to them. Using nets fashioned out of rhinestones they had stolen from the nouveau riche, it was an easy catch. A true Sea Priestess cannot resist a rhinestone. The unwitting Sea Priestesses were kidnapped in one fell swoop. They were carted away from their pristine aquarium and taken around the bend of the Florida keys up into the muddy waters of the Mississippi. The plan was for these pirates to sell these damsels in distress to various circuses and sideshows for the art of exploitation. What the foolish pirates failed to remember is that mermaids have hypnotic powers second only to the mesmeric skills of the ancient vampire. One by one, the Priestesses charmed their way out of their nets and slid quietly into the river, kept safe and sound and unnoticeable by the murky opaque waterway. After years of being ogled by adoring fans and dangerous lowlifes, they were finally out of the spotlight. And that newly found anonymity and safety felt strangely good. Here they were once again free to roam and to scavenge for discarded drag. But the things they were finding were not quite up to their standards. Cartons and crates of mass produced tchotchkes littered the river bed. Things that could only be described as dull and monotonous. Literal trash. The opposite of distinguished or refined. Bored and disgusted by this unearthly waste of a disposal sight, they hatched their plan. They would become the gatekeepers of all that entered the mouth of the river allowing only the finest collections of artistry from around the world, all the while sinking the ships filled with the plain and mundane to the dismal depths, never to be seen again. 

This is where The Sea Priestess(es) and I connect. I have always been a collector. A collector of beautiful things. I've been obsessed with the old, the unusual, the handmaid. I have an unhealthy attraction to things that are one-of-a-kind. Including people! I have love and respect for the tiniest things knowing that somewhere, sometime, an artist designed and made it with love and care. Call me a hoarder if you will, but if you ever have the chance to see my collection, you will eat those words with a gilded antique spoon. Although I am constantly collecting, some of the pieces used for the Queen Sea Priestess have been in my possession for years. Sometimes I just have to wait to find the perfect place to put something. 

To create your own custom Sea Priestess with me. If you yourself are a collector, my commissioned pieces are the utmost in bespoke art. You can send me a theme, a specific color scheme or just an idea along with one to dozens of items that you have collected and left abandoned in drawers, closets and boxes hidden under the bed. No item is too unusual. No item is invaluable as long as it holds a memory or tells a story. Here is a link (https://www.galerievinsantos.com/commission-vinsantos) to my commissions page to learn more.