A few days ago I received a box full of vinyl toy pieces that will be pieced together for a release this fall. Stay tuned for updates. ^_^

People with a keen eye may have spotted this particular specimen already on other pictures but here is fully functional clean photo of the nightmare version of Taro Kern which will be exhibited at the “Kaiju Attack” show Atticus Gallery in Barcelona, Spain.

I will attend the opening so come on out for a chat.

Something I really enjoy about interviews is that they reveal thoughts and things about an artist that they sometimes do not verbalize regularly. So, in that regard I have had the incredible honor of being interviewed by Jeremy ‘Toy Maven’ Brautman.

Here is one of the things I have been working on lately. A set of tiny blindboxed toys. They will be released in a run of 20 at my show in LA at Toy Art Gallery.

The background story:

After body modification nano-technology had become not only common but also fashionable one company quickly seized the opportunity to offer the ability to buy cheap, timed capsules with the ability to enhance the body and mind in almost every way imaginable.

These tiny sculptures are cast in isomalt a sugar substitute frequently found in pharmaceutic and diet products. The capsules are made from gelatine. So basically the whole thing is edible. However, I still wouldn’t recommend it because well, I haven’t tested the effects…

They come in a handmade blister capsule packaging and a handmade box. There will be 10 different sculptures out of which 2 will be less often and one will be a chase. I will take not have a set of only one sculpture but I can not promise that there won’t be doubles. No single purchase will be possible. The whole set will be rounded off with a business card and a poster as pictured below.

I’ve posted this picture and some others on twitter and flickr in the last few days. One of the new works to be presented at my upcoming show at Toy Art Gallery, La will be a series of tiny blind boxed figures. The sculptures are made in a way that they will fit into a regular 00-sized transparent gelatine capsule. Today I made a first test cast and the result was semi-successful. There are still a lot of bubbles on the surface of the casts.

The material I used is not resin but isomalt, a sugar substitute that is used in a wide range of pharmaceutic and diet products as well as in patisserie and sugar casting art. I have yet to figure out how to cast without any bubbles. Oiling the silicone helps but does not remove all bubbles. It is interesting to note that the bubbles usually only happen on the surface and not on the inside of the isomalt.

And if you’ve been wondering… yes, this whole toy is eatable. All materials used, even the silicone is safe to be used with food. Swallow it and you will never see it again.