Amy writes:
Five years ago I purchased my first 'high end' one of a kind artwork piece. It was at a local art show on Star Wars. I was instantly struck by it. I knew I was making the right decision to buy but I couldn't explain why until now: it has sparked an entire side focus of artist renderings of Kenner Star Wars figures.
Now that I have had a opportunity to hang all of these pieces, I am able to take a look at why I am so drawn to them. Each piece conveys some different aspect of how these toys have sparked our imaginations. Some even have something to say to us as collectors. Each artist has a different viewpoint and each piece highlights something special about these toys.
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| Rebel High-Five; It's a Slap - Blain Hefner |
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| R2-D2 - Pryor |
From Blain Hefner's Rebel High-Five; 'It's a Slap' to this mini oil painting of R2-D2, you can see how figures that were cherished in childhood look today. The paint is missing in some places, the stickers have yellowed, but the play value is still there.
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| Wicket - Travis W. Oates |
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| Endor Lamp - Russquatch Gold |
These fanciful pieces by Travis W. Oates and Russquatch Gold explore different mediums. Glass and wood paneling become the canvas for colorful representations of Ewoks.
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| Untitled - Lauren Bock |
Other artists like Lauren Bock have taken toys and placed them in imaginary settings fit for a galaxy far, far away.
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| Collect Them All / Dissect Them All - Dave Pryor |
Dave Pryor has explored the evils of collecting. While we were encouraged at a young age to 'collect them all,' now many in the hobby spend more emphasis on packaging and quality than the play value of the toy itself. This two part print shows the duality of collecting.
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| Destined To Their Fate - B. Tanner |
And artists like B. Tanner go a step further with this painting entitled '
Destined To Their Fate'. What is the shelf life of a action figure? Nothing lasts forever, and inevitably nature reclaims man-made artifice.
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| TK-421 - Christopher Traux |
Christopher Truax comically carbon freezes figures for future preservation and display as sculpture. Here a vintage Stormtrooper has been vacu-sealed to a board with metal tape and preserved like a scientific specimen.
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| Jabba and Gamorrean - Krystal Lord |
Krystal Lord uses figures that have started to turn color and were damaged and gives them new life by using the figure itself as a canvas.
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| Heavy Metal Wookiee and Erock - Lisa Rae Hanson |
Vinyl and resin toy creators like Lisa Rae Hanson make castings of vintage figures and re-sculpt them. Now Chewie and friends can have that garage band they always dreamed of.
Art pieces like these are a testament to the inspiration that Kenner Star Wars toys have provided us over the years. I'll never tire of seeing these action figures through someone else's point of view.
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".
ReplyDeleteThe franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars (subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981[2][3]), by 20th Century Fox, which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy (Episodes IV–VI). A prequel trilogy (Episodes I–III) was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans in comparison to the original trilogy.
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