Blending papier-mâché, recycled materials, and textiles, and drawing inspiration from artists such as Vera Cervenka, Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, and Sarah Pucci, Sydney-based artist Raquel Caballero embraces what she calls “hardcore craft” – a heavily embellished, brightly coloured kind of folk maximalism.
Celebrating the make-believe world of dolls and the eccentricities of those who collect them, this body of work stages a series of exuberant tableaux where her idols are reimagined as pint-sized demigods – decoration transformed into a form of play and resistance.
Wollongong Art Gallery
4 July to 1 November 2026
New South Wales
Raquel Caballero, The dolls, 2026, papier mâché and mixed media, dimensions variable / Photograph: Jessica Maurer / Courtesy the artist and Wollongong Art Gallery, New South Wales
