Artist of the Week: David Foox

Like most creative people, David Foox isn't content with simply conveying images and colors, David has a sligthly more profound purpose. What is unique about David's message is the medium in which it is delivered. David has expirience with filling canvas, but his most compelling work is in the form tiny vinyl dolls. Each dolls serves a dual purpose by combining humor with subtle statements on life in general.

His newest series, Organ Donors, manages to bring a humorous light to the subject of organ donation. Recently, he was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): I really enjoy how you were able to combine a serious and import topic like organ donation into the world of vinyl dolls. What has the response been like to Organ Donors? Has it been able to reach into new areas given the subject matter?
David Foox (DF): ORGAN DONORS by David Foox is serious/silly. Serious, cause what could be more serious than raising awareness to save a life. Silly, cause all sorts of images pop to mind when you try and describe them. In fact leading up to my MUCH belated launch (we were in fact 8 months late in releasing the ORGAN DONORS - try explaining THAT to people that pre-purchased them!) describing these little guys was quite interesting. Firstly, I had to overcome the barrier of people saying "oh like dickhead" and secondly, whenever you say "vinyl collectible" people in the mainstream always seem to think "adult sex aid". Eventually, I just cut the horse off at the pass.

The response since our launch has been exceptional. YES we are reaching into areas that most vinyls do not dare enter. For instance, PURPLEHEART (my personal second favorite ORGAN DONOR) is going to grace the cover of the American Bioethics Journal of Medicine (upcoming issue). Quite a feat for a vinyl toy that was merely meant to cater to my immediate fans.

OA: How important is packaging in the world of vinyl dolls? How much time you spend on creating package designs?
DF: Packaging is as important as the contents. Our quality cardboard boxes, printing, design, colors, included insert (explaining the different body parts available for donation), and silver wrapping (to best keep hidden the rares from the non-rares) are all top notch. It is a premium product without a doubt - and to that I thank my main man - Erick Scarecrow of ESC Toy Ltd in NYC. Originally, I had some other ideas for the packaging but it was decided a nice dark box would give the toy a better, stronger presence. Packaging is crucial.

OA: Do each for your designs address topics? You seem to have a political or global element to your designs (i.e. Universal Bunny)?
DF: Well... YES! But if you can see the symbolism you already know the answer! UNIVERSAL BUNNY + SARCOFAGUSS is a direction the world/universe is headed. What better way to escape earth, seek the stars (Sirius B is my personal favorite and has lead me to the saying "seriously B'eeed bro") than with a united humanity. ONE. Also, I should add that everything requires creation and destruction. It is the ultimate story of the Phoenix that keeps rising to try try try again.

OA: How much research goes into your dolls? An example would be the symbols and designs on Fire Badger.
DF: I am constantly exploring my universal reality. I have made mistakes, to say differently would be to lie. But with every step I really try to improve who I am as a person and my outlook on life. I should also add - "I am just getting started!" With regard to FIRE Badger... Well firstly, there are two FIRE Badgers. They are the twins. They are part of the series that make up the ELEMENTAL Badgers and culminate with SOUL Badger (not yet finished...) This series is in remission right now, but as soon as I get a bit of time I will complete the remaining two (WATER Badger and SOUL Badger). A lot of inspiration for these came from Mark Ryden's Tree paintings and his Tree series as a whole. I have SO much to learn...

OA: The "Scary Money Series" is fascinating, and in looking back through your work on-line it looks like it was a culmination of a series experimentations. What is the story behind the series?
DF: Excellent question and great observation. YES, this is the culmination of an experiment and some advice from LC at Thinkspace and Justin Giarla at Shooting Gallery. Firstly, the medium is acrylic on multiple sheets of vellum/acetate and layered on top of each other. Secondly, they were then encased in resin "tablets" and mounted on custom "floating" wooden blocks with blue velvet. The series was first shown at the Paper Magazine Nightlife Awards party in November 2008. For me, it was so beautiful to see them under spotlights and mounted uniformly across the gallery space. The series is something I would like to explore more and keep going with it because truthfully I feel that currency is changing before our eyes and who knows tomorrow may bring a different form of cash!

This series came about around the time the USD had a steep decline and I felt that artwork goes up in value while money seems to go down in value (over time). So I created "fake" currency (artwork called SCARY MONEY) to illustrate just how true this statement is. Additionally, the topics covered in each individual piece of artwork allowed for me to play with today's events. For instance, "Mugabe's Shrinking Currency" clearly pokes a stick at Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and "Barbie Bucks" does the same for today's makeup obsessed kids. "Black Gold" kinda touches upon the notion of oil as currency (a rich commodity indeed). "Navigeisha Gold" is a tribute to my female-voiced navigation system that I have really bonded with and "Jihadi Jewels" is my absolute ABSOLUTE favorite (personally) because it tells the TRUTH - and anything that tells the truth will never offend!

OA: What's next for David Foox?
DF: SURVIVE, GROW, EXPAND, REPEAT

BONUS QUESTIONS:
OA: If you could site down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
DF: I think I would like to sit down with my future self and say GIDDAY BRO WASSSSSSUP!

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
DF: When I paint, I listen to a New Zealand student radio station online called BFM. Because of the time difference they are usually peaking on all sorts of weird and wacky drugs around the time I wake up in the morning and that makes for great morning music. Around lunchtime it calms down a bit. On Sundays they only play children's programming and I HATE THAT SO MUCH.

For more information on David Foox please visit his website.