Last Days Of Winter – Persuasion

Amanda Visell's fine art career sprouted from continuing failure. A high school drop out and Cal Arts reject, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in traditional animation eventually finding her way to stop motion animation as a designer and sculptor, working on stylized projects for shows like The Simpsons and the feature film Elf. The challenge of mastering new tools and techniques in this medium taught her to be able to visualize her own style. She has been exhibiting her paintings and sculptures internationally since 2005 including Disneyland USA and has created a thriving world of characters as designer toys. Self-produced art toys are designer collectibles created and manufactured independently by the artist or small teams without the backing of a large toy company or mass-market brand. These toys are often highly personal, artistic expressions and are usually made in limited runs. Key Characteristics include independent creation where the artist is in control of the entire process from concept, sculpting, and painting to production and packaging. These are usually made in small batches, often 10–100 pieces, which adds to their rarity, made using materials like resin, sofubi (Japanese soft vinyl), or 3D-printed components. Works for the coarse world began in 2003, when German artists Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk started a distinct style of sculpting that looked almost as if they had chiselled and exposed the figures from three dimensional rock. The streamlined sculptures are hand crafted and finished at the coarse workshops in Hamburg and Hong Kong. The artists focus primarily on statues that range from small to life size, made from resin and/or fibreglass. Their work also includes photography, prints and objects, combining all aspects to create holistic pieces of art. Pieces that convey an alternate reality. A fiction brand. By using traditional toy production techniques, the original sculptures, 'coarse originals', are transformed into vinyl figures under the 'coarsetoys' imprint. As a result of living in two separate cultures, the artists blend eastern and western aesthetics. A possible explanation for the brand's popularity worldwide. coarse figures are currently available in art toy stores and galleries across 28 countries worldwide.