I was educated at the Divadelní fakulta Akademie múzických umění (DAMU), which translates as Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts, in Prague. I made my first doll from a sock when I was six. When I was 32, in 2010, I won third prize in the Prague Doll competition; the next year I was the first-place winner. I have also received first prizes in the Pandora competition in Moscow and at DABIDA, Netherlands.

I now have an atelier in Tábor, Czech Republic. I work mostly with natural materials such as wood, leather and silk because they are what they are and don’t pretend to be anything else. I don’t offer regular courses but if somebody asks me to teach them carving, I’m happy to do so. I also run small workshops for children in which we make puppets and dolls from natural materials. I sell my pieces mostly through Facebook on my site. The Art Gallery CZ in Prague also sells some of my work.

To give life to a piece of wood is something I have loved all my life. As I carve, the wood takes on movement, coming to life as it changes its form; I think this is what connects dolls and puppets. Carving the face is creating emotion—a path to the life story of the doll, which it can then tell to viewers, unfolding its story in the same way a child goes through the process of being born.