Metoozilla
Ron English Custom Show
Genesis
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.
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
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
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.
