Toy Army Tuesday - Kathie Olivas

This is my first Kathie Olivas "piece" from 2008, a Mac computer decal of her work.
Hi all. This is the first actual posting for Toy Army Tuesday - Wahoo! For todays toy talk I chose Kathie Olivas. She is an incredible multi media artist whose work I have been admiring for a few years now. The following is an excerpt of her bio from her website MiseryChildren.com explaining her current work,

"My current body of work, entitled the "Misery Children" series focuses on the constant social desire to assign 'cuteness.' This often serves as a means to make something innocent and more appealing, therefore, non-threatening. Perhaps this allows us to comfort ourselves. My questions are based on the discomfort of "what if"-- what if these sweet creatures had other ideas? What if they knew something we were afraid to open our eyes to? Would they protect themselves; would they be able to adapt to a war torn environment and develop their own defense mechanisms? The characters are meant to evoke a nostalgic reaction that reflects isolation, fear, and an uncertainty; yet, at the same time they serve as empowered alter egos. This series is presented as a satirical look at how fear affects our sense of reality. The characters perform as narrators in lonely worlds that each explores individually, creating his or her own perspective, and thus, own reality. As our hosts, the ensemble provides a sense of comfort, the reminiscent style is soothing, yet the mood is dark. As children, they evoke a sense of temporality; childhood serves as a starting ground, a place where things begin.

Inspired by early American portraiture that often depicted children as small adults in an idealized new land, the characters parallel this vision within their own sense of post-apocalyptic conformity, uniquely documenting their own stories in a mysterious brave new world." - Kathie Olivas, MiseryChildren.com.

This brings me to a couple of her toys I want to talk about. The two toys I currently own by her (I wish there were more to show *sigh) are MINDstyle's Two-Faced Hazel (9") sold on January, 6, 2009 and Daisy (3") from The Scavengers Mini Series 2.



I adore my Hazel. I received her as a christmas present from my mom this year and she is a new favorite of mine. She is based off of the chase figure from Olivas's The Scavengers series 1. Only 500 were made. She is different than the original chase pictured below

As you can see the 9" sports a crown and is eating her lollipop instead of holding it and wearing a dunce cap. Hazel also comes in a beautiful magnetic box which highlights more of Hazel and Olivas's work.

For more info about the variations click HERE. This is also where the image came from.

There are also 5 variations of her. For example the grey scale Hazel came out at the San Diego Comic Con in 2009 and only 200 were made.



Let's move on to Daisey. She is my most special piece. Daisey comes from Olivas's last series of scavengers, The Scavengers series 2. All of Olivas's scavengers are blind boxed meaning that you never know what you are going to get. Also, some are more rare than others. If you look at the box above it lists their rarity. Daisey is a common one but I love her all the same and because of how she was acquired. My mom being the awesome mom that she is was looking at Olivas's work because she knew I wanted the 9" Hazel for christmas. Being the chatty kathy that she is she emailed Olivas to tell her that I was a fan. Guess what came in the mail a week before christmas? A package from Olivas herself!! WOW. I about had a heart attack and I hadn't opened it yet. I waited anxiously for christmas morning to open it. Inside was Daisey, signed!!



I was just excited that Olivas responded to my mom, and this was over the top. It was by far the coolest/sweetest present I received. Now I have to complete my collection - eventually. Since both series have been out for a few years the prices have jumped making it harder to collect, but more fun.

I could ramble about how awesome her toys are all day. I haven't even covered her paintings, prints, and sculptures! Please check out her website MiseryChildren.com today. You won't be disappointed. Have a great Tuesday everyone!!