Dr Gonzo of Extra Truckestrial Custom Toys brings technical skill, and his own individual style to everything he creates – paintings, toys, sculptural works and more.
Tim’s unique art is influenced by ancient civilizations, aliens and pop culture of the 1980’s. All of which can be seen in his latest work, the Lucha-Doh figure.
The Lucha-Doh is a resin creation utilising magnetic joints, with 9-attachments and counting. The attachments can be connected to the base figure, in almost endless combinations. It is a unique, innovative work, and Tim’s most creative piece to date.
(Picture below of a white unpainted Lucha-Doh by ‘Extra Truckestriual’ – photo by Kevin Malone)
With membership of ‘The Resin Syndicate‘ locked down n multiple collaborations also behind him; and a busy 2014 ahead, now is the perfect time to get to know Tim of ‘Extra Truckestrial’ by reading the interview below…
Basics/Getting to Know
Name + D.O.B?
Dr. Gonzo/Tim
City, State n Country you’re Repping?
Middle of the desert USA
(Picture below of Tim Harrison out exploring Cathedral Gorge in Nevada)
Describe a memory from three stages of yr life ….basically trying to piece together Mr. Truckestrial’s pivotal moments. Concerts, art, action-figures, women, school, college… ANYTHING man.
* age 10 – pre pubes:
Being a kid in the 80s
* age 15 – pube rage:
…silence…
* age 20 – acceptance of pubes:
When I was a truck driver I had an up close and personal encounter with an alien craft
(Picture below of some Easter Island Heads by ‘Extra Truckestrial’)
Personal motto/quote?
What you do today directly affects you tomorrow
Favorite band(s)?
‘The Temper Trap’
Favorite TV show(s)?
‘Dexter’ and ‘Ancient Aliens’
(Picture below of some Edlu-Chars by ‘Extra Truckestrial’)
Favorite sport(s) + teams?
I don’t like sports
Favorite movie(s)?
Sci-Fi movies
Favorite books and comics?
Anything by Dean Koontz and favorite comic (is) ‘Masters of the Universe’
Specifics on Art
Do you consider what you are making to be ‘art’, ‘design’, re-hashed crap?
I consider anything you create with your hands in physical form as artwork.
When and why did you first start making ‘art’ (toys, drawings, paintings, anything)?
I’ve been painting and drawing ever since I was a child and I started making Toys about eight months ago, I do it because it makes me happy.
(Picture below of a painting by Tim Harrison AKA Dr. Gonzo)
Why + when did you decide to go in on the art hustle?
I don’t know what this art hustle is you speak of so I can’t answer that question
Any formal art training? Or pivotal moment/influence?
I’m pretty much self-taught on all my art, I had a very small amount of help from a few friends in the toymaking business and I’ve taught myself everything else
Company motto?
No company motto yet
Favorite ‘other’ artist(s)?
A few of my other favorite artists are MONSTER FOOT CREATIONS, OCULAR, SERIOUS SILLY K, JACTOON and IMBALANCED CHEMIST
Toy Questions
Is the rise of ‘art’ toys an indication of the changing nature of ‘art’? OR just a bunch of nerds with too much $$$ and time?
I don’t consider myself a nerd, I consider myself a lover of toys and to be able to create my own is invigorating.
What are your thoughts on the current rise of mass-production in the resin-art world, and the move away from hand made pieces? The 2012 Designer Con Suck-con figures as an example…
I believe there’s still a big want for handmade customs, but the toymaking mass production makes those one offs more available to customers instead of only one person on the earth.
Personally when I do a run I usually do as much as I can afford to make, so if they are being mass produced by other artists those artists are doing pretty well in the business or obsessed with making copies of the same piece.
Do you think once an artist has re-used a piece of pop-culture, it becomes harem for another artist to use it/spoof too? …I am thinking of ‘The Sucklord’ + ‘Boba Fett’; ‘The Mark Ultra’ + the hangman mask head etc.
As long as you don’t make an exact copy of what another artist bootlegs then its free reign.
We all try to hold some sort of respect for each other but sometimes two people will have the same idea not knowing each other are doing it and end up with something very similar to one another.
What was it like collaborating with Tanin Tumth of ‘Ministry of Kongz’? I know you not only painted a Kruzilla of his, but were also sanctioned in creating a one-off resin bootleg ‘M.O.K’ piece.
Getting permission from ministry to bootleg his kruzz was awesome! I still have the mold and I plan on using it in the future to do more collaborations with him.
(Picture below of the custom bootleg resin Kruzilla by ‘Extra Truckestrial’)
What was the process involved in producing the Necro-Mini-Con piece with ‘MB Custom Toys’?
As for the mini books of the dead MB Sculpted the book I molded and casted it and he packaged it.
(Picture below of a pile of Necro-Mini-Cons by ‘Extra Truckestrial’ x ‘MB Custom Toys‘)
Favorite toy/figure? (I’ll allow self promotion)
Favorite toy of all time – Skeletor.
(Picture below of the Skeletor figure from 1984, by Mattel)
What does your wife/girl/woman/family make of the whole perpetual adolescence/Peter-Pan/man-child aspect of toy art + toy collecting?
I don’t have a wife/girlfriend/children/family, all of that gets in the way of my work.
‘Extra Truckestrial’ Art Questions
Describe the method of making an ‘Extra Truckestrial’ piece? (dot point all o.k.)
– your sculptural work…
– your 2D works such as your paintings…
Everybody has their secrets to what they create, personally I’d like to keep mine to myself that way the art is more interesting, keeps the customer in kind of a wonder state.
How did you join, and what is it like being part of ‘The Resin Syndicate’ art-gang along with ‘The Mark Ultra’, ‘Scraped Resin’, ‘Blockheads Toys’, ‘Edge of Doom’, ‘FEAST’ and the others – one giant artistic bro-mance I guess?
I was nominated by Blockheads Toys to be part of the resin syndicate, it’s basically a group of bootlegging artists that help each other in the business.
(Picture below of Tim and Garrett from ‘Blockheads Toys‘ – ‘Resin Syndicate’ repping)
The Future
Any collaborations on the horizon?
I have a few collaborations I’m discussing with a couple artists right now but nothing has begun yet. Soon though!
Any major projects you want to hype man?
Shhhhhhhh…..
Links
