Releasing a limited GID run of the Kyle Kirwan Boneyard Dunny, we decided to ask Kyle a few things about the release and who he is as an artist.
About the artist Kyle Kirwan:
Kyle Kirwan is an artist and sculptor originally hailing from San Diego, California. Fresh off of a three year tour of North America, Kirwan has recently settled in the Hudson Valley of New York to continue working on art full-time.
Kirwan’s work is immediately recognizable by its intricate detail – from the tiny swirls of a Bloom’s fur to the hundreds of skulls dotting the form of the Final Willo. His pieces are all handmade and blur the line between designer toy and fine art.
1. What made you think of this idea?
The Boneyard started life as an an 8” custom commission based on an original sculpt of mine called The Final Willo. The Final Willo is the god of death inhabiting a Willows body. The collector who commissioned the 8” really loved the skull texture and twisted my arm (and put a bunch a money in it) to take that idea and go wild with it. People really resonated with the 8”, I had so many requests for one that I started chatting to Clutter about producing it.
2. A majority of people associate the skull with death and darkness….what do you associate skulls with?
I understand the thematics behind bones and skulls, and they are a great way to pull in death and darkness into an idea, the final Willo really did come from there, but I’m not a very macabre person. For me the association is really just Heads, nothing more.
3. Does this Dunny have a name or a personality? If so, please tell!
It’s just called the Boneyard Dunny. I imagine its more like a golem or minion conjured up by a wizard to guard something.
4. Where would this Dunny live in the world? (real or imaginary)
In an imaginary world he’d live in a cave or at the wizard’s house. In the real world he’ll live in people’s houses, on a shelf, with other Dunnys.
5. You have been collecting 8” Dunnys for a long time! What was one of your first KR Dunnys you collected?
I started collecting 3” Dunnys in 2006/2007 and graduated to 8” after that. The first 8” I got was Tristan Eaton’s Brickface Tag Team with the gas mask and Fat Cap accessory.
6.Why should people be interested in purchasing this Dunny?
Because it’s badass and it glows-in-the-dark.
7. How long have you been making toys? What made you start?
I’ve been making my own toys since about 2011, though I did some customs before that. I honestly started because I was spending too much money on toys and thought I could offset my spending by making stuff and selling it to buy more toys.
8. What do you love about the vinyl art toy community?
That they’re so accepting of resin toys, haha. I think the best part of the Designer Toy Community is that everyone is doing it because they love it. Yes, there are other factors, but if you take out the love there’s nothing left. No one is doing this for the money, or the fame or the notoriety – they’re doing it because they love it. And being around people just doing what they fuckin’ love is rad.
9. What do you think a collector can learn about an artist by purchasing their pieces?
That’s super complicated. It depends on the artist, depends on the piece. You can learn more from some artists entire body of work than you can from a single piece. It’s like the difference between reading a single page or an entire book. I think each piece is, if nothing else, a conversation starter into either what the artist is interested in or their mindset at the time the piece was created – you just need to be willing to listen.
