Interview with the artist Ina Volprich

We in the BALTIC BABY© team find the close contact to the artists who model baby sculptures for us very important. Since there are also some very interesting questions that will fascinate you as a lover of realistic reborn baby dolls, we conducted an interview with Ina Volprich about Reborn Babies.


How long have you been modelling realistic baby sculptures, how did you end up modelling in general and why do you model babies?

I've always loved babies. That is why I wanted to fulfil my wish to hold my children once again as when they were babies. But this would only have been possible with a photo of the children, from which a portrait doll would have been made. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone to fulfil my wish. Which is why in 2009 I taught myself to model portrait dolls in every shape and form.

Have you always modelled babies or other sculptures too?

I model babies, older children and also adults as portrait dolls. In the past, orang-utans, cats, dogs and a prehistoric man also though.

Who or what inspires and motivates you to model?

I always enjoy being able to create new faces. I try to model the dolls as realistically as in the photo. This is a new challenge every time because not every face is easy to rework. If the customer is then happy about the result, i.e. the doll, then this is the best reward for me and new motivation to create more dolls!

How many baby models have you modelled so far? And do you have an absolute favourite who you would name?

I have already modelled about 200 dolls of all kinds. There is no doll that I particularly like. They were all equally dear to me.

What is important to you even with your baby models?

I attach great importance to proportion and accuracy. When modelling hands and feet, I pay attention to the little chubby wrinkles and chunky bits that babies have. I’m still using photos for comparison today.

Why do you work with BALTIC BABY©?

It’s great fun working with BALTIC BABY©. The staff are all very nice and it is a pleasure for me to see what beautiful silicone dolls are made out of the modelled babies. As silicone babies are very popular now, I try to produce a variety of babies with different faces and bodies, in cooperation with BALTIC BABY©, so that a suitable model is available for every reborn baby fan and collector.

The “reborn" topic is sometimes a controversial subject in public discussion due to the babies’ lifelike depiction. What is your assessment of this topic?

I have also been creating reborn babies for years and I still think it is a great hobby for women, partly also for men, who like to reborn these babies and create realistic, unique little works of art. Because they are: works of art and not toys. I always compare reborn babies with paintings by the great masters. The painters created their art in 2D and the reborners do this with the babies in 3D. Even collecting these beautiful dolls should not be despised because everyone has a right to what gives them the most pleasure and brings happiness in life. There is nothing reprehensible about it and it can always be presented openly and proudly.

Men, for example, also have their railway platforms, which they spend hours tinkering with, their collected beer mugs, which decorate entire cupboard walls and shelves, and more recently also their drones, which they also like going out and about with.

Do you have any plans and wishes for the future regarding reborn babies?

I would like to work with BALTIC BABY© for a long time to come and I am always looking for new dolls to reborn and collect. My wish is that these dolls, especially the reborn babies that are made from the silicone blanks, would gain more respect and approval from the public and be seen as unique works of art.

These BALTIC BABY reborn babies were modelled by Ina Volprich: