The Making of a Matriarch

Matriarch? Definitions of ‘matriarch” don’t differ much, but the following one suits my purpose ….

A matriarch is a willing protector, a nurturer, and a leader of her family and community. She is a role model, particularly for women, and a fierce advocate for causes close to her heart. She is empowered and makes it her job to empower others. She is open-minded and utilizes her wisdom for the good of all.  ( from https://medium.com › a-matriarch-in-the-making-52b42)  

The debate whether a matriarch is the exact opposite of patriarch delves deeper into power relationships and the established  dominance of gender in governing bodies.  I  will not be subscribing to that serious debate in this blog as I just wanted to make an art doll which has a story.

The Matriarch I created is an amalgam of European and First Nations concepts of matriarchs:

• Guardian  of Nature
• Protector of Environment
• Healer and Nurturer
• Cultural Keeper
• Decision Maker

In October, 2025 at Gumnut Dollies Newcastle ( a local doll making group), doll maker/sculptor Bobbie Oliver introduced us to her collection of “crones” and showed us her techniques of needle sculpting fabric heads with character. 

Is a crone the same as a matriarch - not quite… When I had sculpted the face, it wasn’t quite as ‘old’ or a deeply secretive as I imagine a ‘crone” might be, so as soon as I got home, I began thinking about other words for women of an age and came across this distinction …

Some modern frameworks add "Matriarch" as a fourth stage between Mother and Crone. In this view, the Matriarch is the powerful, active leader , while the Crone is the older, more withdrawn sage who "walks between worlds.

I  also referenced  the Aboriginal cultural tradition of  considering  trees as matriarchs (or grandmother trees) . These trees are not merely plants but are viewed as living ancestors and guardians that hold deep spiritual, generational, and protective significance. 

Attaching her body to a piece of wood also made her not only human, but also arboreal. I tried all sorts of fur pieces, muslin and thread textures as a mantle,  but decided on stitching leaves in hand dyed fabric and some other skeleton leaves made by free motion machine stitching machine on dissolvable fabric. I had already decided from the beginning that her head would be covered with “dread locks” or what may now also be interpreted as tree roots or branches.  This idea was inspired by a photograph of an older Finnish woman from Pinterest. 

The decision about including the cicadas as part of this matriarch’s story is to emphasise what appears to be a contradiction about nurturing life and inevitable death... Cicadas spend years underground as nymphs feeding on root sap, emerging en masse as winged adults for a few days, perhaps a week, to mate and lay eggs in tree branches, then die, leaving the eggs to hatch into new nymphs that burrow underground to restart the cycle.  The dormant underground phase of the cicada’s life can be from 2-17 years!

In my interpretation, this forest matriarch offers a safe place for cicadas to lay eggs, only to cause their own demise … but the continuing life cycle is ensured. 

This is the story of an imagined matriarch and the making. 

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Links to  Doll making/sculpting groups  - Ask to join:

Bobbi  M Oliver's Creations  

Gumnut Dollies