Monsters and Misfits

Chris Ryniak’s Monster Spirits

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Chris Ryniak’s brain is a limitless fountain of monster making ingenuity, and the recent appearance of a happy little lumpy idol on his Instagram feed made us all squeal in delight. These brightly coloured little doofuses are all set to wreak havoc and mischief, but we’re likely to forgive them because sitting at just 3.5″ high, they’re just so damn cute.

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Despite being busy putting the finishing touches on some creatures for Monsters and Misfits III, and even busier hustling the others into shipping crates, Chris took the time to answer a few questions about these little Monster Spirits, and his upcoming trip to Japan!

Borbogule: Monster Spirit of Mischief

Borbogule: Monster Spirit of Mischief

CP: What’s your point of inspiration for these little monster spirits? 
CMR: My creatures are inherently invisible to humans, so it only makes sense that something exists that is invisible to them.

The Nuggleworts carry effigies of them on their heads to celebrate mischief and fun in the night parade.

CP: Besides Mischief, what other spirits do you have lined up?  
CMR: I hadn’t thought that far ahead, you may have just given me an idea!

 

What are you looking forward to the most on your return trip to Japan? 
CMR: Besides the food? The time worn architecture and strong sense of culture. Oh, and MANNERS, everyone is so polite!

What was your favourite experience the first time?
CMR: There were so many amazing experiences the first time, some of which took me by surprise.

We followed the Spring festival parade at night down a quiet street, when all of the Yatai floats stopped moving and everyone, including the crowd, started singing in unison.  It was haunting and beautiful, like something from another world.

Your larger sculptures are jawdropping. Will we be seeing more of those in the future; are you finding yourself drawn to larger formats?
CMR: THANKS! I have always wanted to work big…like BIG big, like 20-feet-tall big!  Working large has some real challenges and limitations, but it’s something I plan on doing periodically in the future.

Until someone offers a room with 20-foot ceilings and a cargo truck, I may have to keep the pieces between 3 and 4 feet high.

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Is Andrew Bell Riding Nerdy for Monsters & Misfits III?

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Things are starting to get weird but even more spectacular with all the work in progress shots we see from the artists for Monsters & Misfits III!
Ridin Nerdy2Speaking of, Andrew Bell is either riding nerdy or riding dirty with this new leggy creation that has a small driver on top. Maybe he is doing a little bit of both! Andrew will hopefully show us the rest of this monstrous guy so we can see just what exactly is going on. We do know that his sad tofu approves, but he is just always sad so don’t let his expression fool you!
sad tofu
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Chris Ryniak’s giant monsters!

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Chris Ryniak’s monsters have been growing up, and despite the image below, we’re definitely talking about the resin kind, not the human sort. If you follow Chris’ Instagram feed, you would have seen him wrestling with large foam armatures, and it’s been so exciting to see them finally come to life!

As Chris says – “Two monsters that I made.” although presumably, one is a collaboration. Chris is a man of many talents, but we are pretty sure those talents stop short of parthenogenesis.

Chris’ critters have gotten more and more expressive in the past couple years, bordering on the uncannily lifelike(if your life is kinda weird). This delightful green lump is clearly happy to be spending some time out in the garden, before he is unceremoniously packed up in a cargo crate to Japan.

Many of Chris’ fan favourite figures, such as the Crumbeater, Nugglewort and Bubblegut will return for Monsters and Misfits III, although it looks like they may take on some surprising and unanticipated forms. And – new to the Ryniak pack is a squinty, toothy, grinning lump, representing in the second row, and perched on top of a couple of Nuggleworts. We will bring you more details on that little dude shortly!

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Monsters & Misfits Monday: No sleep

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All the artists for Monsters & Misfits III are getting little to no rest since the big event is only a month away, and burning the midnight oil is an understatement. Talking to Amanda Louise Spayd yesterday, she thinks “I will sleep in October.” I had to point out that likely won’t happen since we still have Designercon in November.

This brings us to this week’s edition of Monsters & Misfits Monday! We thought we would show you the work spaces of the artists, and show you just exactly what they are doing these long busy days and nights.

Not a candy apple

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Monsters & Misfits Mondays: Nocturna Skelve

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midiTo help with the Monday blues, we are starting Monsters & Misfits Mondays (we will actually be talking about the show most days but it sounds good)!

This week, we bring you very exciting news because Monsters & Misfits III will bring the first edition Midi Skelve, called Nocturna! We haven’t seen too many Midi Skelves out and about yet, but for those that do not recall, these stand a good 14 inches tall. As seen above, the finishing touches are going on the Nocturna Skelve, and the blue shades are stellar along with the awesome buttflap.

Nocturna will be a low edition of only 12 at $450 each with half debuting at Monsters & Misfits III.

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Destined for Japan

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For those of you keeping track, we have been slowly pulling back the curtain on what you can anticipate for Monsters & Misfits III coming up this September. The artist roster is outstanding, and we are ridiculously excited to show you what all of them have in the works! With that in mind, how about some glimpses into Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas’ studio to see what they have in store for Monsters and Misfits III?

4leggedmasaoA 4-legged Masao skelve that is winking their way to Japan with additional accouterments.
BPMMiiiAn Elizabeth going through a dramatic makeover. Still in the very early stages, but right now it is astounding!

For more from our wonderful group of artists, follow the #mmiii tag on Instagram!

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Carisa Swenson for Monsters and Misfits III

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dfe2ab8ef45711e2a52322000a9e02f9_7One of the newest members of the Circus Posterus band of misfits, Carisa Swenson aka Goblinfruit Studio is well on her way to global recognition with her appearance in Monsters and Misfits III in Takeyama, Japan.

Continuing with her strategically designed curious creatures and aberrant animal creations, she has sculpted, stitched, and painted the 15.5 inch tall,  conjoined, sideshow-destined Barnabus and Baxter. One body, two heads and all amazement!

While you see Baxter screaming at the distant sea with a sort of blissful melancholy before he reaches Japan, you may wonder what magnificent manner of creature Barnabus and Baxter are exactly. They might resemble a rat, a mole, but they are in fact – a Bilby. Not known to many of us on this side of the pond, Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores that inhabit Australia, but soon they will travel great lengths and will be gleefully parading with the rest of the Circus Posterus anomalies, as Monsters and Misfits III is only six weeks away.

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Things are getting big for Monsters and Misfits III

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m7m3_slideSeptember will be here in the blink of an eye, and we have been keeping tabs on what the Circus Posterus artists and invited guests have been up to for Monsters & Misfits III.

I don’t think the crew had the old saying “go big or go home” in mind with this show, because I don’t think many of them would want to go back home…so they are just going big! From the looks of it, Brandt is in the process of making an epic sized white whale…scratch that – an epic size narwhal named Mortimer. Ryniak on the other hand, has taken to creating a beast so large his son could ride it to school! Don’t worry, these guys will create amazing work in all shapes and sizes, and not just miniature pony sizes.

BP whale

 

he likes em big

 

The Monsters and our team of Misfits head over to Japan this September, and we will be keeping you up to date, as all the amazing pieces come to life!

 

Monsters & Misfits III

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You have waited over a year, now get ready, because Monsters & Misfits III is coming back this September to Takayama, Japan!

We’ll have more news coming soon, but we have a few new artists joining in the fun, and we can’t wait to show you what our artists have been cooking up for you!