New Resin Toy Art from Ukrainian Asylum
|It looks like Patient No. 6 has been re-admitted into the soul-crushing psychiatric hospital. While he got out for a while (and his resin toy art entered my collection), there are other “Patient No. 6’s” needing to be discharged to good homes. The artist, who also goes by Patient No. 6, sees his character as representative of a creative everyman, the kind of figure who marches to his own beat, and is therefore subject to the oppressive nature of a society that doesn’t understand.
The institution where Patient No. 6 spent his formative years is modeled after an actual asylum in the Ukraine. While inside, the authorities give him medicine to try to “kill his talents”.
I think these resins are unique and poignant. They speak to the feelings of bleakness and issues of belonging that many artists (and other creative characters) face along the journey. A writer from outside the toy art realm might call Patient No.6 “outsider art”. I call it “psychiatric art”. (Frank Kozik called it “really cool and interesting on every level”.)
Somewhere near Kiev, the human man known as Patient No. 6 has hand-cast two additional Patient No. 6 characters in resin. Each individual figure is the result of four separate 2-part molds. They are also sizable pieces:
- Patient No. 6 with “inflatable” swimming crocodile stands 7.5 inches (18 cm.) and is priced at $96 USD (including medical history and worldwide FREE shipping).
- Patient No. 6 with rocket ship stands 6 inches (14.5 cm.) and is priced at $76 USD (including medical history and worldwide FREE shipping).
All figures are hand-painted.
Before I knew of Patient No. 6’s plans to create accessories for future editions of Patient No. 6, I assumed that the first figure’s little truck was simply his toy. But seeing the new swimming croc and the rocketship (with a balloon accessory on the way), I now view these pieces as the result of a young imagination bent on escape.
I support original art. If you can help Patient No. 6 (the resin) escape his fate in the asylum, Patient No. 6 (the human), will ship him to you (anywhere in the world) for free. Click here to choose a Patient. Click through for photos of the molds and the process.
man, I am loving that figure. love those little creatures that fit in his head.
It feels like folk art, like something warmer than a “toy” something with culture and history behind it. I like the direction.
I love it. and I bought it, which means I really love it. the process pictures on flickr are fascinating.
really cool stuff!
Thank you so much for good words! They give to me forces to work farther and to do yet more steep things!