Created for the EBSQ Recycled show. This new stuffed toy was created from dead stuffed animals.

To begin with, I hunt the thrift stores monthly for stuffed toys. These have already been played with and loved by a child at some point and then donated to the thrift store. So when I buy them they are already a recycled item.

I, then, open them up to add the squeaky that Charger prefers to have in all his toys. (These are also recycled from old dog toys and used repeatedly until they break.) He plays with them and eventually guts them (that is part of the game). I often restuff them and allow him to play with them some more. Eventually they are just too eviscerated to continue playing with. The stuffing is always saved and used in other stuffed doll projects that I create.

So then, they become Dadaist art. I hang them from the walls in our basement stairwell in a mock to those big game hunters that display stuffed animal heads in their dens.

Finally, they became this creation. I took the body of a bunny, the head of a strange alien bug, and added the tusks of a walrus inside its mouth and the eyes from the bunny head. Added to the body are the arms of a bee, and some crab pinchers. On the back are some wings from the same bee and the tail is a tentacle of an octopus.

This little crazy guy is now available for adoption to a good home. He comes complete with dog hair and slobber. Or perhaps, I will just put in a squeaky and let Charger rip it up too… maybe…