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 haven�t 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 �� a whole bunch�� 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 I�ve 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 that�s blind ... or if you have an antique dog that�s 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 I�m making them something from me goes into them. I�ve made ten life-size dolls black ones , drag queens, Teri Toye, Edie Sedgwick and big boys. I dont�t usually make them of real people because if I didn�t make them glamourised.
How long have you been a transsexual ?
I guess since I was born, but I�ve been a woman since I was 20. Being a transsexual makes my work more emotional, because it�s 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 can�t get jobs, their apartment�s 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 don�t eat at all. They stay up too late, smoke too much .. The most tasteful doll I�ve made is a real pretty one, but I don�t like him to much cause the pretty ones aren�t very intereting - it�s like with people. The prettiest people are the blandest.
Do any of your dolls wear designed clothes ?
Some of them do. The thing is they�re usually naked - because after putting all that work into them I don�t want to cover them up. If it�s a special doll that I �ll keep for myself I�d make a whole wardrobe with lots of diferent outfits and some wigs .. but if I�m going to sell them then I usually don�t bother. If people wanna dress and put clothes on them afterwards I don�t care
Do you get a lot of stick by being a transsexual artist ?
I do sometimes, but then I�m really open about it so I suppose it doesn�t matter. If I was hiding if people would give me more problems . I�m really against pretending that nothing happened ... because I do feel different. I don�t 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 doesn�t take that long,. My insurance covered all the surgery so I didn�t have to pay anything. If I wasn�t 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, I�d go up to a table and take the order and they couldn�t 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 don�t make a profession of it. I love staying in reading the gossip magazines like national Enquirer, People Magazine, The Sun....
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