Many of us brought our toys to the kitchen table and played with our food, much to our parents’ dismay. Although toys were designed to entertain and inspire us in our youth, many artists continue to look back at these childhood artifacts for inspiration. Miami based sculptor and photographer Pablo Dona often refers to his memories of playtime in his art. His installations of hand-crafted miniature people interacting with commonplace items take the innocence of play and create a surreal new reality.
Dona’s use of miniatures recalls those of like-minded artists like Issac Cordal and Slinkachu. But while their art can typically be found on the street and ‘lives’ in that environment, Dona does not require the outside world to build upon his own. It’s meant to be a fantastical place “where sharks swim in teacups, boats navigate across a alphabet soup and polar bears live in north pole made of marshmallows,” he explains. “A journey where everything is possible even be that child again.”
“Childhood is a unique and a precious time in the life of a person. We come into this world with a clear purpose and determination to live it. It’s during our early stages in life when we really know who we are and what we want- With my photographs I aim to create a bridge to childhood, tap into the emotions associated with the simple things in life, those that when seeing through the eyes of a child become magical,” he says.
