Krisztina Egyed had never sculpted clay before her brother died.
She had never sculpted the tiny fingers or the pouty cheeks of babies and the fleshy, knobby knees of toddlers. That all came after Tom lost his battle with cancer. Sculpting and Egyed's professional plunge into the art world was his gift to her.
Egyed was 34 and Tom was 36 when he passed away. At the time, Egyed worked as a design draftsman. For example, she would spend her time meticulously drawing the undercarriages of railcars as part of the process of designing airbrake systems. But what Egyed longed to do was make drawing, sculpting and painting her full-time career.
When she was growing up in Squamish, her Hungarian parents had always encouraged Egyed and her four siblings to explore their creative sides. Her father would reprimand them if there was any inkling that the children were becoming "followers." They were raised to think outside the box, Egyed recalled with a smile.
Art was always a central focus in the family; it brought them together. Annually, the Egyeds would organize family art auctions. Each child would create his or her own pieces, which would be set up in the sitting room for the family to browse through. Then the bidding wars began. The prices never rose above a couple of dollars, but it was fun, Egyed said. Beyond the laughs, the auctions opened Egyed up to the endless possibilities created by one's imagination.
Quitting a well-paying job for the unknown is no easy task, Egyed said, adding that the unknown is always scary. So when Tom told Egyed she needed to drop drafting and follow her passion, Egyed was nervous. But Tom's words before his death gave her the courage and strength to take that step.
And so, one day shortly after his death, Egyed sat down and sculpted. Everything just seemed to come to her, she said. She started by sculpting her own "little people" life-like dolls that combined reality and fantasy. Since Egyed was young, she had been fascinated with the tiny characters that filled the pages of book's such as Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Mary Norton's The Borrowers.
With her first doll complete, Egyed sent photos of it to the top doll gallery in the United States and asked for a critique. The next day they phoned back asked her to send her work immediately and a few months later, flew Egyed to her first exhibit in Detroit.
The gallery owners weren't the only ones who liked her work. At Egyed's first exhibit, famous actress and doll collector Demi Moore flew in to attend the opening exhibit and bought one of Egyed's figures. Moore has been one of Egyed's customers ever since.
Today, Egyed's little children are sought after by doll collectors around the world. She is one of the few doll artists who also creates twins, a feat that requires meticulous attention to detail. All the tiny features must be identical, with slight variations in character.
It takes two months to create a single figure. The process usually starts with a bribe to get one of Egyed's nieces or nephews to model. Then the form slowly starts to take shape.
An arm or leg can take up to a week to complete. It's a very internal process, Egyed said. By the end, it's difficult to part with her figures. In fact, she's not planning on parting with many more.
"I am slowing down," she said. "I have so much on my plate and so many interests."
Egyed has been a director of the Squamish Arts Council since 2004 and chair since 2006. She is also an art curator and has spearheaded many local projects, including lobbying for a Legacy Oceanfront Park and Arts and Culture Centre and securing a permanent home for Squamish Arts Council.
Recently Egyed helped organize a municipal election all-candidates' meeting on arts and culture. The event takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the SAC building at 37950 Cleveland Ave.
Egyed is looking to experiment with larger art installation in the future, similar to the Yarn Bomb project she completed in 2010. Art is a perfect barometer to gauge and understand our evolution as a society, Egyed said.
"Art is critical in our lives as it encourages a deeper understanding or examination of a subject it encourages learning," she said.
