Through the month of February, Super7 proudly presents limited edition prints of select Toy Box paintings by Robert Burden available for sale this Thursday, February 9th at Noon Pacific at the Super7 Store and online. About the Paintings via www.robertburden.net My current paintings are large-scale portraits of the small action figures that I played with as a boy. I remember these figures as being magnificent. They represented power, beauty, good and evil, and they captured every aspect of my imagination. As a young adult, these toys are wonderfully nostalgic, but they're no longer amazing to me. The ineffability of what can turn a cheap yet coveted piece of plastic into an almost talismanic object was the original inspiration for this work. I am also motivated by the amorphous line that is drawn between imagination and reality, childhood wonder and adult practicality. Though sheltered and naive, there was a freedom in my childhood. It was free from the politics of race and religion. It was free from the burdens of history. It was free from rhetoric and paranoia, shame and regret, cynicism and despair. There is nothing profound about commenting on the minor tragedy of losing one's innocence, or the struggle to maintain one's idealism. I just want to renew my faded sense of awe. The Birth of a Jedi and Rebellion Soldiers of Thundera Battle Cat Statant
I don't know if this is appropriate to say, but these remind me of LSD blotter paper. I love the isometric patterns used with equally sized versions of different heroes. It looks like a good place to get lost in (depending on what area of the painting you fall into).
The Empire panels definitely do it for me. Never having successfully obtained the open-belly Tauntaun, I can really relate to how it had idyllic status as a child. Poses between the classic action figures is a very nice addition. I think he captured a good balance between some detail, but not too much, enough to capture that plastic toy aspect.
these are cool. there was a time lapse video showing him painting the Battle Cat. impressive. here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDbLnWV9I0Y
Oh man, need some fancy gilded frames for these. Real wood. Something with grapes carved in the corners.
