'TOY STORY'

‘Upcycled’ or ‘Repurposed’ furniture and accessories have always been a big love of mine, and this fascinating lamp by Ryan McElhinney is no exception…

Ryan’s career began at seven years old, when he would draw cartoons for customers at his father’s pub. Today, his portfolio displays the same mix of creativity and humour that lead him from his studies at Dublin’s European College of Animation to be an award-winning product and interior designer.

His career as a product designer blossomed alongside his passion for local thrift and house clearance shops. With a limited budget (like the rest of us!), he used his vivid imagination when trawling for materials to ensure he spotted the perfect finds to bring his early designs to life. This is the point whereby cheap sacks of second-hand plastic toys became Ryan’s chosen medium.

Each of his sculptures are of a unique design and hand crafted at his London studio, where he fuses the figurines together before coating them in a high gloss polyurethane lacquer.

I stumbled across this “Toy Story” lamp a couple of months back, and have been dying to attempt it myself ever since! I love repurposing items I no longer have any use for, experimenting with various ideas and getting oh so excited about the potential outcome. This lamp in particular could be made cheaply, yet looks expensive and high-end due to the gold high gloss laquer which is applied following the fusing process. I love the way in which the action figures are stacked, with arms and legs flowing out in every which way whilst others appear to be climbing, therefore creating the impression that they are all racing towards the light. LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!