Toy Army Tuesday - Sawdust Bear

Hi all! How goes it? It hit 50 yesterday!!! It was so nice to walk home from work and enjoy the sunset for a change. I am just going to overlook the fact that it is supposed to snow again on Wednesday, because I honestly can't take it any more. Anywho... for those of you who tuned in last week I shared bits and pieces from the Traveling Circus show opening at Rotofugi (if you missed it feel free to check it out!). The show had a group of my favorite artists from the Circus Posterus Collective, so over the next few weeks I will break down the pieces and give you a little more information about the artists themselves. This week I thought I would share with you Shing Yin Khor's work from Sawdust Bear.


(Shing Yin Khor, "Blue Sweater Scaleybug" & "Orange Sweater Scaleybug" - mixed media)

For those of you unfamiliar with Shing Yin Khor's work - you're in luck today. Sawdust Bear "sculpts awkward, charming, and awkwardly charming creatures trapped in a world of bumbling science and human fallibility. [Her] themes are inspired by historical hoaxes, old museums, cabinets of curiosities and pre-Linnean taxonomy; [Her] palettes are inspired by the more obnoxiously colourful parts of nature, especially invertebrates." In addition to sculpting Shing also publishes pretty sweet little comics, "[she] write[s] the historical fiction comic Marie and Jeanne, write[s] and illustrate[s] the shoegazey near-future sci-fi Center for Otherworld Science, and the awkward monster comic Marlowe the Monster, all of which can be downloaded for free". - For more information about her and her work please check out her website - Sawdust Bear.com.


(Shing Yin Khor, "Underwater Gravebeast Plaque" & "Curiosity Cabinet #1- Clown Jellies" - mixed media) (Shing Yin Khor, "Orange Sweater Scaleybug" - mixed media)

I love Shing's out of this world creatures who resemble bits and pieces of creatures we know, but with a whimsical twist. Their facial expressions are always priceless. They awkwardly stare at you as if they were caught in the act of something. I mean take a look at the Orange Sweater Scaleybug above for instance - how adorable is that face with his tongue flopped out like that? I was laughing out loud when I saw this piece in person. I wish so badly that I could have afforded to take him home.

(Shing Yin Khor, "Drab Fairybug" - Watercolor, Ink, and Acrylic - For sale Here - photo from Leanna Lin's Wonderland) (Shing Yin Khor, "Dragonwinged Fairybug 2" - Watercolor, Ink, and Acrylic - photo from Leanna Lin's Wonderland)

In addition to overly sweet sculptures and neat comics Shing produces beautiful hand drawn studies of her creatures. The pieces above are from her latest show the Supahcute Science Fair at Leanna Lin's Wonderland. You should definitely check it out because there are still some affordable pieces available.

Last week I was lucky enough to score a monthly subscription to her work on Patreon, which means that each month I will receive a care package from her with pieces of her work - from prints, to pins, postcards, and maybe even a mini resin piece! I could not be more excited. I can't wait to see what she produces this year and I hope to eventually add a fattybug or scaleybug to my collection someday soon. I will be sure to share with you all what I receive from the subscription somewhere down the road.

I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do.

Take care everyone!

SawdustBear.com | Supahcute Science Fair | Shing's Patreon