my reimagining of the Russian nesting doll, an object that has stayed with me since childhood. i remember the quiet fascination of opening one figure to find another, then another, each layer revealing something new, yet intrinsically connected.

motherhood has brought me back to that feeling. it has made me aware of the many versions of myself that exist at once, the past selves i carry, the present self i am shaping, and the future self still unfolding. like the nesting doll, i am not a single fixed identity but a continuous expansion, layered, evolving, and deeply interconnected.

the nesting doll also reflects lineage. it mirrors how we carry those who came before us, how our ancestors live within us, shaping who we are in ways both seen and unseen.

each figure in this series represents a fragment of self and a thread of inheritance. together, they form a whole that is never complete, only becoming.