Metoozilla
Ron English Custom Show
Genesis
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I was invited by Clutter Gallery (Beacon, NY) to take part in a group show alongside Ron English. The participating artists were asked to intervene one of his signature pieces. In my case, the base was Mousezilla, a hybrid between Mickey Mouse and Godzilla.
Concept
When the blank figure arrived at the studio, I knew I didn’t want to treat it only as a stylistic exercise. I wanted to say something with it.
The show coincided with the height of the Hollywood #MeToo movement. The topic was everywhere, and I kept thinking about the contradictions around how mainstream media reacts to female empowerment: it amplifies it, celebrates it, but also repackages it as another product. Empowerment becomes aestheticised, sold back to us, and often stripped of nuance.
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That became the conceptual frame for my intervention.
I decided to shift Mousezilla from a Mickey-based creature into a Minnie-based one. A female monster, enormous, powerful, unfiltered. I also wanted to sculpt the figure bare-chested, not as sexualisation, but as a statement about how the female body is often used simultaneously as symbol and commodity.
Process
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The original toy was hard plastic, not easy to modify, so required careful planning. I resculpted the chest, added the ribbon and integrated my facial language. The goal was impact without sensationalism.
Technically it was a clean, contained intervention, but conceptually it needed a precise balance: powerful, readable, and not falling into the same traps the piece was commenting on.
Outcome
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The piece was exhibited at Clutter Gallery as part of the Ron English intervention show. It wasn’t sold at the time, but it remained a strong piece within my studio.
In 2024, Art Toy Invasion invited me to give a talk at Art Toy Con Spain, where I shared a reflection on my career, the “B side” of being an artist, and my experience with creative burnout.
They also organised a Kaiju-themed show for the event, so I brought Metoozilla to be part of the exhibition.
Shortly after that, the severe floods caused by the DANA in Valencia heavily affected the collective’s studio and workspace.
I donated the restored piece to support them in rebuilding their space.
