nobody knows i have fuzzy socks on (2025)
26.5”h x 8”d x 6”w
i ❤ k-pop (2025)
22”h x 13”d x 7”w
i can’t even see what i’m doing right now (2025)
26”h x 12”d x 18”w
honminchoco (2025)
21”h x 8”d x 4”w
no “koong! koong!” (2025)
20”h x 9”d x 9”w
april 17, 2025
a combat of the commercialization of cartoon figurine art mass production by handbuilding ceramic sculptures to convey the independently acquired, yet shared emotions of animals and humans. i see animals the same as humans, but with the indication of their tail to dictate their animalship. regardless of tail or no tail, we are all living capable of feeling the same states of silliness, solitude, ambition, acceptance, insecurity, and loneliness, and can be individualistic from the hopes retrieved of already existent cartoon versions of animals and humans created by other illustration artists.
in contemporary visual culture, animals and creature-like forms are everywhere, saturating specifically the commercial figurine scene. currently, brands such as Sonny Angels, Labubus, Smiskis, and Pop Mart employ a consistent blueprint of “cuteness,” achieved through simplified silhouettes, pastel palettes, and repeated facial expressions. but through these minimalistic differences, the artistic approaches have been appreciated more as a trend of blind box unboxings rather than characteristic consummation, making each commercial figurine’s individuality thin.
i am not interested in replicating this model. i am against the way cuteness is commodified into sameness. the rise of blind box distribution has turned figurines into an addictive cycle of collecting for trend participation. the role of a single, meaningful character is often replaced by the impulse to complete a set. i instead wish for figurines to be conceptually consumed within the belief in individualism each with a story, a personality beyond its physical form, especially when using the known characteristics of animals installed generally in this world. figurines should be more than interchangeable collectibles.
these ceramic friends are born from this conviction. they are inspired by the importance of figurine culture and the general use of illustrated animals from other artists to convey the reality of raw emotions living through independence, vulnerability, and selfhood. they each have their own emotional truth, telling its own narrative. a cat, hippo, giraffe, skunk, and a little girl were handbuilt with clay to contrast. they are not perfect, nor are they part of a matching set. they are intended to be installed separately, alone, in contrast to the mass-produced ideal of collectability. in their separation, they gain space to be seen and to be known.
in contemporary visual culture, animals and creature-like forms are everywhere, saturating specifically the commercial figurine scene. currently, brands such as Sonny Angels, Labubus, Smiskis, and Pop Mart employ a consistent blueprint of “cuteness,” achieved through simplified silhouettes, pastel palettes, and repeated facial expressions. but through these minimalistic differences, the artistic approaches have been appreciated more as a trend of blind box unboxings rather than characteristic consummation, making each commercial figurine’s individuality thin.
i am not interested in replicating this model. i am against the way cuteness is commodified into sameness. the rise of blind box distribution has turned figurines into an addictive cycle of collecting for trend participation. the role of a single, meaningful character is often replaced by the impulse to complete a set. i instead wish for figurines to be conceptually consumed within the belief in individualism each with a story, a personality beyond its physical form, especially when using the known characteristics of animals installed generally in this world. figurines should be more than interchangeable collectibles.
these ceramic friends are born from this conviction. they are inspired by the importance of figurine culture and the general use of illustrated animals from other artists to convey the reality of raw emotions living through independence, vulnerability, and selfhood. they each have their own emotional truth, telling its own narrative. a cat, hippo, giraffe, skunk, and a little girl were handbuilt with clay to contrast. they are not perfect, nor are they part of a matching set. they are intended to be installed separately, alone, in contrast to the mass-produced ideal of collectability. in their separation, they gain space to be seen and to be known.