ART TOY A SOLO EXHIBTION BY GENE HARRIS

"Art toys are more than just collectibles - they're a form of storytelling," says Harris. "They're a way to celebrate the films, cartoons and games that inspired us growing up, while creating something entirely new."

The exhibition features Harris' work alongside selected pieces by international guest artists Oleksandr Redka (Ukraine), Phuong Tran (US) and Ryan B Soto (US), highlighting the creativity and diversity of the global art toy community.

As part of the exhibition, Harris will also host TOY LAB, a hands-on workshop for aspiring artists aged 10–18. Participants will learn the fundamentals of designer toy creation, including sculpting, scratch-building and creative design techniques, before taking home their own prototype art toy.

Harris hopes the workshop will inspire young creatives to explore sculpture, design and storytelling through an art form that continues to grow in popularity worldwide.

Alongside his career in television animation, Harris has worked as a cartoonist, game artist and tertiary educator, contributing to the development of New Zealand's first Bachelor of Animation programme (Animation College & Yoobee College of Creative Innovation). Today, his work spans sculpture, designer toys, dioramas, printmaking and digital illustration.

ART TOY is free to attend and welcomes collectors, families, artists and anyone with a love of pop culture and creativity.

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The vision behind this is to introduce art toy culture and artwork to a New Zealand audience. Art toys are extremely niche in NZ. I only know of a small handful of art toy designers here, and most sell to overseas collectors. So, the scene is small, but that means there's a lot of opportunity to define the New Zealand scene. I've learnt a lot over the last 6 years making Art Toys, I've traveled to DesignerCon (2022) in Anaheim and met with other like-minded art toy designers. Been a part in running international art toy maker community events with @wcmakers and @plasticcell with the Tran brothers, meeting markers from all over the world. I just really want to showcase and pass on what I have learnt and hopefully inspire a new generation of art toy makers in New Zealand. 

The vision for this show evolved from a love of pop culture and really just a thirst for learning. As an artist, I'm always learning and pushing myself, collaborating and inventing. The Whatchuptu brand and its style is still evolving, but I like to think that it's a mix of fun, terror and sense of humour. My normal day job is serious, so I like to have complete free reign to be a bit unhinged with my creations. I'm hoping to elicit awe, shock and a laugh from my audience. I've pushed from designer art toy making into diorama construction and even traditional printmaking to expand the story telling element of my work. It's also important to me to represent traditional and tactile art practice. Everything I make is painstakingly made by hand, I want to champion handmade craft which I feel is becoming an increasingly more important form of expression in today's digital and AI world. 

I love making things, and I hope my audience feels that love when they see the works on display at ART TOY at Lake House Arts Centre.