Toys factor heavily in the work of brilliant pop surrealist painter Mark Ryden, yet Mark chose not to release any toys of his own until now. After a number of false starts dating as far back as 2005, YHWH is being brought into vinyl form by Long Gone John and his Necessaries Toy Foundation. I was flattered to be commission by John to shoot the character for its upcoming premiere.
YHWH is inspired by a god-like figure from Ryden's Bunnies and Bees series. When brainstorming the shot with Mark, it seemed a natural choice to play with elements from the original painting - similar location, girl, lighting, and basic composition. The weather in Los Angeles had been less than cooperative with heavy rains and wind, but I was fortunate enough to have a day with beautiful, broken clouds.
6-year-old Thea Jones was cast as my YHWH girl. Aside from simply being adorable and accurate to Ryden's style, Thea was perfect. She understood the character implicitly and needed little direction.
Photo by Linda Abbott
Vol. 11 of Hi Fructose will be releasing soon with the photo of YHWH on its back cover. Copies of the magazine will be on hand this weekend at Copro/Nason Gallery during the opening of the 2nd annual Hi Fructose group exhibition, titled Overdose.
I'll be there for the show and a signing of the newly released Hi Fructose Collected Edition Boxed Set.
Hope you enjoy,
Brian
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