By Hannah Kelley
Photos by Emilia Nieminen
As someone who’s lived in multiple countries and fully immersed herself in the cultures, Emilia Nieminen has a broadened view of the world. No matter where she is, though, she makes sure to keep her eyes open for inspiration. She often finds it in the people and textiles she encounters, and this carries over to her art dolls and couture outfits.
A Long, Winding Path
Nieminen said, “I grew up in Finland but have no hometown. I always say I’m ‘a potted plant without roots’ because my family moved so often when I was a kid. Maybe that’s why I always felt like an outsider. I was a weird kid who climbed trees, drew all the time, and lived in books. I got my first taste of Asian culture when I was 9 and read the biography of Miyamoto Musashi. There began a lifelong love affair with samurai, martial arts, and Japanese and Chinese history and culture.”
While working toward a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Nieminen accepted an opportunity to travel to China as an exchange student. “I felt like I fit in there much more than I ever had in Finland,” she said. “I took courses in fashion design, and Shanghai Fashion Week kindled a passion for haute couture. It took me a while to realize how normal people want awfully boring clothes. Dolls were the answer to that dilemma!”
After earning her business degree, she set to work on a Master of Arts in East Asian studies at Helsinki University. At the same time, she took a job as an assistant at an art gallery, later becoming a manager. This experience helped her learn the ins and outs of running a small business, although the practical skills weren’t the only benefit. Nieminen said, “I met my friend Jing (Wu Xuejing) in the gallery exhibition opening, and she was the one who introduced me to dolls.”
Nieminen went on to establish EmiliaCouture, through which she sold one-of-a-kind fashions and repainted and rerooted vinyl dolls. She soon became determined to make her own dolls, and in 2011, she and Jing formed Odonata Green, Ltd. Nieminen was the artist and designer, while Jing carried out the business-related tasks. The dolls created were called Inamorata, which translates to beloved. They were launched in 2013.
“Making my own doll was kind of a culmination of things,” Nieminen said. “Since I was a kid, I always had to make all my toys mine by customizing them. When I started collecting Integrity Toys dolls in 2006, I was a poor student and could only afford the nude dolls on eBay. I sewed because I couldn’t afford the fashions. Then rerooting and repainting the dolls gave me enough income to support the hobby. The fashions I sewed suddenly started to sell and the hobby grew into a job. It felt like a natural progression to make a doll with my own aesthetic. But it has been a hard journey.”
Due to issues early on with those entrusted with reproducing her designs, Nieminen made the decision to move to China so she could monitor the work more closely. “I had to visit the caster, painting studio, seamstress, shoemaker, and box factory in person every week to troubleshoot things. My designs were too complicated for them, the dolls they painted looked dead as mannequins, and I was getting tired of compromising my vision,” she said. After just a year, burnout was already setting in and it was apparent that something needed to change.
Nieminen said, “For the Paris Fashion Doll Festival 2014, we tried something new: an LE5 ‘atelier doll.’ I hand-painted each doll to have the same makeup but a slightly different expression. I also made one OOAK doll, and the show was a huge success. We sold out in 30 minutes! Revitalized, we decided to concentrate on OOAK dolls and ditch all the factories.”
There were still more hurdles to overcome during the following years, though. First, a new caster needed to be found, and this proved to be a challenge. Nieminen said, “I was near ready to throw in the towel when we finally found a reliable caster based on Jill Jackson’s gracious recommendation in 2017. Jill has had a huge influence on my life. She interviewed me for Haute Doll magazine in 2010 and gave me courage to sculpt my own doll. I’ve worked with the caster she introduced us to for eight years now.”
As an added curveball, Nieminen’s entrepreneur visa for China was canceled in 2015 due to policy changes. Rather than staying in one area long term, she opted to move to a different country once she met the time limit allowed with her Finnish passport. She said, “It was inspiring to be immersed in different cultures and aesthetics each few months. I lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, and Japan. In Japan, I met my German husband, Christian, and moved to Tokyo in 2020. My most recent move to Germany is also because of his work. Luckily, my work travels easily!”
During what she described as her “nomadic phase,” Nieminen became adept at working in tight quarters. She would complete the same step for two to four dolls at a time, before clearing her desk to make room for the supplies needed for another step. These days, she said, “I have a larger studio with two desks so I can have a permanent painting station on one desk, a sculpting tent for dusty things, and rotate more tasks on the other.”
In Recent Years
With Nieminen’s move to Germany, the company was officially renamed Inamorata Dolls. The art dolls are sold in limited editions of 15 to 30 blank dolls, with limited openings for customizations and full sets. They are handsculpted, made of resin, and stand 16 inches tall. There are a variety of parts to choose between, including 17 head sculpts, three neck joints, five chest plates, two hip options, and two feet sizes with three poses each.
Creating dolls is a process of trial and error in terms of not only the physical sculpting but also learning what customers want to see. “When I was sculpting the first prototype in 2011, the market wasn’t ready for all the joints I wanted to make,” Nieminen said. “Now, double-jointed limbs and multiple joints on the torso and neck are commonplace. I also wanted to give my dolls realistic-size feet, but the industry standard was Barbie-esque tiny feet. In order to share shoes with Sybarites and other 16-inch dolls, I gave Inamorata tiny feet, but just last year, I sculpted three new foot sculptures in the realistic size normalized by Popovy. I’m still against magnetic hands because the magnets lose power over time and I want Inamorata to last through the years. Maybe the next thing is BJDs with silicone skin? I have been seeing them the past few years in Japan.”
Nieminen’s background has been influential in shaping her as an artist. “Experiencing other cultures, not just through tourism, but actually sharing everyday life with local people, learning their languages and ways of thinking, really expands one’s mind. Comparing myself now to the young me who left Finland, I have become more empathetic, patient, and kind than I was before. Being immersed in a different aesthetic and having access to exotic materials are obviously hugely influential factors for any artist!” She added, “I was once asked what my dolls are made out of, and I said ‘personality.’ They are strong, sensual, and often androgynous. There is realism to my work, such as sculpted wrinkles, and to me, personality is more important than traditional beauty. I try to represent features outside the mainstream, such as vitiligo, disability, and aging. An art doll needs to tell a story, connect with the viewer, and evoke emotion.”
At present, sculpting is Nieminen’s favorite part of the job, even though her arthritis makes it painful. Painting new sculpts for the first time is also a thrill. Commission work happens to incorporate both, and Nieminen said, “I love the aspect of shared custody with commission projects.” The process usually begins with a customer sharing a story or concept for a doll. Sometimes, they provide photos as a visual reference for some of the finer details. The artist said, “Making the doll with another person makes me think outside the box and often pushes me outside my comfort zone. Which is brilliant! Nude dolls are my bread and butter, but my favorite is making full set dolls. They can just tell more of a story. The more challenging the project, the more fun I have. If I get to sculpt something weird or to learn a new technique, I’m simply exultant.”
Nieminen noted the suspension of mail services to the U.S. has directly impacted her business. Because a majority of her customers are in the U.S., she made the difficult call to postpone her next preorder until February 2026. The preorder is limited to 15 to 30 dolls, including new head sculpts such as a new mature male character (inspired by Pedro Pascal and Harrison Ford). Despite seeing some fellow creators close their businesses completely, she is hopeful the situation will be resolved soon and plans to carry on with her work.
Sense of Accomplishment
Asked about what she is most proud of, Nieminen said, “Art exhibitions in proper art galleries feel pretty special. My dolls were shown in a prestigious Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo in 2021 and 2022. But it made me most proud when my parents got to see my work in an art exhibition in Finland in 2023, because all my earlier exhibits had been abroad. I’d love to have more art gallery exhibitions because they allow me to be more experimental and do weird statement pieces without budget limitations.”
Nieminen also published a 217-page book in 2013 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Inamorata dolls. It details the artist’s journey to dollmaking and is filled with full-page photos of her work. She said, “What makes it special is that many of my collector friends contributed in the owner photos section and the foreword. I’m so proud of the book, but it is heavy!”
When she manages to step away from the art supplies, Nieminen said, “What really makes my day is the interactions with the community — a kind comment on Facebook or a customer messaging me after opening their doll box. Their contagious joy makes me tear up with happiness! I always try to involve the community in my decisions, asking them what resin colors to offer in the next preorder, or what new sculptures they’d like to see. They mean the world to me!”
