Needle-felted Teddy Bears and Pornal Plush from Poland
|It’s easy to forget sometimes that life in the Bay Area is a bit of a bubble. For instance, Bears are more common than Republicans. I’m not talking about Cal Bears; I’m talking about full-scale Folsom Street Fair Bears [wiki]. But San Francisco is not like other cities. This is why the felted creations of Poland’s MISZEK stood out to me.
BAM! Yes, that is a needle-felted bear peen. And yes, you do detect a nip (ring) slip beneath his Mr. Bear 2011 sash. MISZEK calls his creation “Pornal Bear” and refers to himself as a “life-forms manufacturer”.
Here’s kind of an artist statement:
I have recently started to actually listen to wool. I think I’m beginning to understand it. Its structure and complexity. And since I have found the Animal in me I challange it with no fear. I still lack patience though. One day I WILL felt a cow (not that I’d like to – I just know that that is where I’m heading).
The process of making, of creating all those things is a sheer pleasure for me. I enjoy it. I like the hard work, I like the intensity, unpredictability. I like my negotiations with the Wool. Heart vs Fur. NEVER FELT SO GOOD.
Click through for more “bearhattos,” plush porn, a sofa riot, somebody’s grandma and what a needle-felted creature looks like when it’s been skinned alive…
In October, he explained the photo above with: “There’s an exhibition in Warsaw we are taking part in so there’s an impossible riot on the sofa tonight – everyteddy wants to go!” Haha. MISZEK’s work is really funny and sometimes creepy/disturbing and other times overtly sexual. Occasionally, it’s all three at once. It’s unusual (at least to me) to see such a combination of hand-made plush, wacky humor, and gay male sexuality coming from Eastern Europe no less!
Follow MISZEK on Flickr and check out his etsy shop too. I’m rooting for this guy. I hope he DOES get to felt that cow.
[via We Waste Time]
Wow. Where else but your blog would I have had the pleasure of being introduced to such unique and bizarre plush? Amazing stuff.Nothing I could ever actually own or display in my house without feeling dirty and gross, but amazing from afar for sure. Great piece.