Mattel M-15 Marauder

This painting is called the Mattel M 15 Marauder. And it's probably one of the few that retained some clear connections to the world of, of advertising. Um, the title comes from an ad in a comic book that I've still got, um, from when I was a child. And, um, I think as I was sort of destroying these paintings and then redoing them, um, you know, the meaning kind of changed for me a little bit.

So, whereas it, this painting started out as kind of, ahh, a bit of a cynical take on, um, you know, the influence that, you know, toy guns and all of those sorts of things could potentially have on us in terms of prepping us for, for, you know, uses the disposable sort of soldier at the whims of, you know, a big government or something, you know, that was sort of, I guess, the cynicism that was coming out through, you know, just being stuck, locked down in these kind of controlling, um, environments that we'd, that we'd been in.

And instead, I, I guess as, um, as I destroyed all of the old artwork, just as we're coming out of the last lockdown, I started rebuilding this. And for me, um, this sort of, that, that echoing little plastic toy soldier, that's kind of interwoven and goes into the background, um, is much more about kind of the contrast between play in, in discipline. So, you know, it's, it's, um, what I kind of rediscovered, I guess my own, my own understanding of what I wanted to say with that.

Um, as I kind of let go of the, the pessimistic view of the way advertising has intervened. So it it's much more, it seems to be about kind of this, you know, this opportunity to kind of play rediscover, um, and enjoy kind of, you know, playfulness in general versus, um, this kind of discipline that's in the background.

And I think the reason why I perhaps, um, tried to kind of echo that little plastic soldier shape and, and to use it with different colors was to try to think about how to, how to combine, you know, uh, um, discipline with something that's, you know, that's loose. Can, you know, is there a place where discipline and fun come together? Um, you know, th this, the little, um, the little spelt or broken sort of pot plant in the corner, um, I think, you know, is almost probably concerning, um, you know, this idea of, you know, being afraid that if you are too rigid and disciplined, you know, will you miss out on, on, you know, fresh kind of opportunity?

So it's, it's one of those, those pitchers that I think, um, uh, w was continually evolving. And as I sort of found new meaning in, in the moment that I was painting things, then, um, Dennis sort of rebuilt some of these ideas as, uh, as I was going.

So, you know, it's less about kind of the restriction and impact, and it's definitely not about gun violence or any of those sorts of things. I think, really looking to learn about myself and my attempts to kind of balance, um, you know, the, the kind of discipline that we require, I guess, in the modern world, but still trying to find, you know, still trying to find fun, still trying to find the, the great things that can come out of being vulnerable or the great things that come out of mistakes.

And this is very much, um, I think a theme, in many parts of, in many parts of my life, as well as in my artwork.