John Roderick Paine is an Australian artist, designer and animator who first came to our attention back in 2014 thanks to his amazing sticker designs. In the 3 years since then John has gotten married, gained major hype thanks to his work with the ‘Hashtag Burgers’ crew and continued making his epic art at a maddening pace.

(Picture below of a self portrait by John)

With John continuing to make inroads in the global art scene, now is the perfect time to get to know the man and his art by reading the Art Talk interview, below…

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Rel Pham aka ‘Terhor’ is an Australian artist who has been making major waves in the local scene for a few years now. His work a unique mix of pop art, dada, graffiti and digital culture.

Gaining his start in the world of graff and street art Rel has since pivoted into predominately making fine art. On top of this, ‘Terhor’ recently teamed up with fellow Australian art star Zeke’s Lunchbox, Voltron style to form the new entity TeeZee. With TeeZee both Rel and Zeke remain separate, yet joined. Teaming up for murals, group shows and commercial releases such as apparel.

(Some digital art by Rel, below)

With Terhor’s style having recently evolved once again – per it’s usual 2 year or so cycle – now is the perfect time to get to know the future cyborg and his art, by reading the Art Talk below…

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Brooke Krumbeck aka ‘BK DIECI’ is an Australian artist creating ethereal colourful works – dreamy landscapes populated with strange monsters, plants, trees and nude human like creatures called Tittafants .

Her work hints at Australian classics such as James Gleeson (see the use of nudes in a psychedelic / surreal landscape), Norman Lindsay (see the use of simple effective lines) and May Gibbs (see the love for the Australian bush and incorporation of strange wonderful creatures) – all filtered through BK’s unique artistic vision.

(Picture below of BK getting her art on)

With BK currently making major waves in the Sydney scene, now is the perfect time to get to know her by reading the Art Talk interview below…

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‘Go Figure News’ is an art site focusing on art toys of all types. The site was founded in 2014 by American artist, theorist and curator TJ Norris. It hosts news, articles and thought pieces on everything art toy related – well worth bookmarking.

(Picture below of ‘GFN’ head honcho – Mr TJ Norris)

Well, as art toys are on the rise once again in general pop culture we felt it would be a good idea to have a chat with TJ about toys, life, art and ‘Go Figure News’ – read all about it in the Art Talk, below…

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The Soft Vinyl Sydney exhibition is the groundbreaking soft vinyl art toy show happening this weekend in Sydney, Australia. SVS is happening from the 21st and 22nd of January at the ‘Lord Gladstone’ pub in Sydney. Featuring over 30 artists from all over the world taking part. It will be a glorious sight to see. Weird monsters of all imaginable shapes, sizes forms and colors.

And… for the uninitiated soft vinyl is a subset of the general art toy scene. With the artists working in it making their own toys, doing customs of existing ones – or both. Sculptural pop art – to find out more about art toys and sofubi, check out the ‘Art Whore’ piece from last year: What Exactly Are Art Toys And How Can We Critique Them?.

So, with the SVS show happening in less than a week now is the perfect time to find out all about it, from the people involved, by reading the Art Talk interview, below…

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Rune Alexandersen is a Danish sculptor, artist and musician who first grabbed our attention thanks to his beautiful toy sculpting work – creating figures which evoke 1990s ‘Playmates Toys’ weirdness. All mutants, slime and monsters.

He has collaborated with Art Whore Approved toy makers ‘Good Leg Toys’ outta Germany and gained lots of fans due to his illustration, traditional art and music – With Rune being a mainstay of the Danish punk scene for years. Most recently playing in renowned death rock act ‘Moth’.

(Picture below of a self portrait by Rune)

Interestingly, Rune calls himself a man of craft. Not an artist… Bringing a very interesting idea to the table. Rune states:

“I don’t really like the word ‘Art’. To me, it’s dead. I doesn’t mean anything anymore – anything and everything can be art:

* A garbage can in a gallery: Art.
* A lampshade covered in dirt: Art
* A shitty painting, by somebody who can’t paint: (Ironic) Art.

I don’t buy into that. I think its about time we discard that term. To me, it has become a word, that is used to legitimize ones taste, as in ”Oh, THAT’s art!” BS.

What I do, I usually refer to as a craft. There are rules to how a picture works: contrasts, rhythm, composition, storytelling and so on. I would never call myself an artist.”

With Rune about to drop a collab art toy with our old friends ‘Good Leg Toys’ outta Germany, and constantly working on art of all types now is the perfect time to get to know Rune, by reading the Art Talk (Craft Talk?) interview, below…

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Taylor Love is an American cartoonist who came to our attention thanks to his work on promotional art for the amazing documentary ‘Dead Hands Dig Deep’ – which profiles Musician and Artist Edwin Borsheim.

Barely 20, Taylor hails from the USA and brings a gothic vibe, and hint of humor to his works. He is an avid comic fan, and has already released 2 self published works – Turnip Noir and Symphony of Nightmares (a ‘DHDD’ tie in).

(Picture below of a self portrait by Taylor)

With Taylor relatively new to the art game, but already standing out thanks to a unique eye and dedicated work ethic, now is the perfect time to get to know the man and his art, by reading the Art Talk interview, below…

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Ayla Whitney aka ‘Ayla the Caveman’ is an Australian born and based artist creating hyper colored art for the inner weirdo in all of us. She had her debut solo show back in 2015 and has been working on her art at a furious pace ever since – creating paintings, murals, prints, illustration and apparel. With all her work imbued with Ayla’s unique eye.

We stumbled upon her work when out wandering the streets of Redfern, Sydney recently… Popping out from a side alley was a huge hyper colored mural featuring a skull and a rainbow. It was classic, yet somehow different – a digital version is featured above. Just like Ayla.

With Ayla quickly building some major buzz, now is the time to get to know her, by reading the Art Talk interview, below…

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Gus Fink is a commercial artist whose multidisciplinary work all falls within the umbrella of ‘Pop Art’ – and like the Ur God of Pop, Andy Warhol, Gus works in every medium available: sculpting, painting, cartoons, film, clothing design, digital art, indie games and music.

Simply put, Gus is an all round pop art visionary!

Gus and his art came to our attention thanks to the recently released ‘Creeplings’ series of designer toys, a collaborative effort between Gus and his equally talented wife Emi Boz – and just like all works that Gus is involved in, they are well worth checking out.

(Picture of some of the ‘Creeplings’ series of blind box art toys, below)

With Gus constantly pushing his art and himself, working on project after project, now is the perfect time to get to know the man and his art, by reading the Art Talk interview below…

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We first discovered the work of J Bux when out exploring an abandoned school on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. In a place filled with your usual male rage vandal destruction – broken glass, shitty tags and the occasional pretty good throw up – J Bux’s work jumped out. All pop culture, cartoons and girl gang attitude. Her work was everywhere! And we rushed around the place looking for it all. Our favorite being a mural of a smoking home made plastic bottle bong accompanied with the words “billies over willies.” It was and is a perfect image.

(Picture below of J Bux’s weed over dicks work – featuring that classic Australian home made bong)

With work that references animals, marijuana and both American and Australian pop culture – ‘The Simpsons’, ‘King of the Hill’, ‘Blinky Bill’, ‘Ciggy Butt Brain’ to name a few. J Bux can readily be compared to fellow Australian LUSH. But were LUSH is all cynicism, politics and the male gaze, J Bux brings a sense of fun, femininity and sass – A unique vision from a unique artist.

With J relatively new to the art game, now is the perfect time to get to know her, by reading the Art Talk, below…

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