INTERVIEW BY I-D - 1985
Greer Lankton is a transsexual that makes dolls. Disformed dolls, anorexic blond dolls, obese purple dolls with pricks and balls, dolls with erections, two headed dolls, dolls that havenīt selept for 48 hours .. not the kind of thing you find underneath the tree at Christmas. She recently had a startling show at the Civilian Warfare Gallery on the East Side of New York which predictably drewa an awful lot of sensationalist outcries fromth Manhattan press, who wanted it closed dow. It consisted of 30 photographs, 3 life-size dolls, 2 medium dolls, 10 acrobats and about 15 others. She has also recently done īī a whole bunchīī of dolls of .. big belly buttons, erect penises, umbilical cords - some dressed in Salvation Army Clothes - All moveable.
Greer is a charming person, with a voice that hovers somewhere between Liberace, Linda Blair and Molly Parkin. She grew up in the 60s, but now makes, paints and dresses dolls. i-D spoke to here on the edge of Alphabet City.
When do you start making dolls ?
It was when I was about ten years old ... about sexteen years ago. I used to make dolls outy of hollyhocks and all types of flowers. Pipecleaner dolls and things like that.
I started taking it seriously by the time I went to college when I was 17. I started showing about four years ago and Iīve had 40 shows since then. There were too many in the house so I had to get rid of them somehow - selling them seemed to be a good idea. If I have a show at least I can get them out of the house for a month.
What do you make them out of ?
Wire and plaster, with coathangers that only bend one way for the arms and legs with old fabric and paint. I get the glass eyes from a taxidermist up on 31 st Street...you can send away for them in dog catalogues too, in case you have a dog thatīs blind ... or if you have an antique dog thatīs eyes are broken you slip in throught the top of the head
But why these types of dolls ?
Because all others dolls are not so real as these. These are grotesque. I want them to have a personalily, I think that while Iīm making them something from me goes into them. Iīve made ten life-size dolls black ones , drag queens, Teri Toye, Edie Sedgwick and big boys. I dontīt usually make them of real people because if I didnīt make them glamourised.
How long have you been a transsexual ?
I guess since I was born, but Iīve been a woman since I was 20. Being a transsexual makes my work more emotional, because itīs such a big deall to go through it.
Are any of your dolls transsexual ?
Some of them are. Some of them I change from like a boy to a girl or a girl to a boy. Sometimes I just get sick of them being the same sex ...they look better when I mess them around
Do your dolls have problems ?
Yes, Eating disorders, depression, they canīt get jobs, their apartmentīs too small .. all the normal problems that all of us have . They also have bad habits . . I mean some of them do eat too much though some of them donīt eat at all. They stay up too late, smoke too much .. The most tasteful doll Iīve made is a real pretty one, but I donīt like him to much cause the pretty ones arenīt very intereting - itīs like with people. The prettiest people are the blandest.
Do any of your dolls wear designed clothes ?
Some of them do. The thing is theyīre usually naked - because after putting all that work into them I donīt want to cover them up. If itīs a special doll that I īll keep for myself Iīd make a whole wardrobe with lots of diferent outfits and some wigs .. but if Iīm going to sell them then I usually donīt bother. If people wanna dress and put clothes on them afterwards I donīt care
Do you get a lot of stick by being a transsexual artist ?
I do sometimes, but then Iīm really open about it so I suppose it doesnīt matter. If I was hiding if people would give me more problems . Iīm really against pretending that nothing happened ... because I do feel different. I donīt feel completly like a girl, I dont feel completly like a boy.
How long did the process take ?
you have to be on hormones for a year, and then you get the surgery, and the electrolysis on your face to get rid of your beard...that takes about three years. I guess it really doesnīt take that long,. My insurance covered all the surgery so I didnīt have to pay anything. If I wasnīt in the art world Im sure it would be harder .. if I had to go out and try and be a secretary or something. Even when I tried to be a waitress, Iīd go up to a table and take the order and they couldnīt get over the fact that I have such a deep voice
Do you , as a transsexual go out much ?
I do go out but I donīt make a profession of it. I love staying in reading the gossip magazines like national Enquirer, People Magazine, The Sun....
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