Sr. pastanaga
TOPIC Museum
Genesis
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I was invited by the collective Art Toy Gama to take part in a group exhibition at TOPIC, the puppet museum in Tolosa (Gipuzkoa). It was an open-theme show, but exhibiting in a museum (even a specialised one) added a certain level of responsibility. I wanted to create a piece that felt aligned with my work and that also carried a clear idea behind it.
Concept
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At that time I was exploring the roles we build for ourselves to navigate certain situations. Those “characters” we create can be useful, but they also leave traces that stay with us when we move into new contexts. They help, but they also condition. It’s that balance between adapting and not losing yourself in the process.
To work with that idea, I designed a cute character dressed as a carrot, holding a butterfly net and named it Sr. Pastanaga.
The costume works as bait: he disguises himself as something he knows will attract what he needs to reach. It’s a simple metaphor about the personas we adopt. Sometimes they work, sometimes they stay longer than intended.
I also modeled three little creatures wearing rabbit masks to put them on the net. This made the piece much more playful.
Process
The sculpture balances on two very small feet, so I added a structural third point using the handle of the net resting on the ground behind him. It keeps the figure stable while preserving that sense of internal weight and life that I look for in my pieces.
This Art Toy was created before my current facial signature fully emerged, but the palette, the proportions and the separated eyes still make it recognisable as part of my work.
Outcome
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The piece was exhibited in A Journey in the World of Art Toys at TOPIC. The show was presented with the care of a museum-level exhibition, including lighting, staging and a printed catalogue.
Additionally, a photographic work I created featuring Sr. Pastanaga was exhibited at the museum, extending the piece into a second visual format within the show.
In the publication, the piece appeared alongside established artists such as Joe Ledbetter, whose early pieces were among the first references that introduced me to the Art Toy field.
Sr. Pastanaga remains a piece that marked an early moment in how I approached narrative within my art toys, and defined a formative stage of my voice as an artist.
