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Opportunity LOL's Spotlight Interview: Artist Lee "Leecifer" Gajda
Few artists have dominated the custom toy world to the extent of Lee Gajda - an artist more commonly known as "Leecifer." His work has an iconic, americana-on-fire feel and if you are a fan of Halloween, Lee is your customizer. His work is featured in many of the biggest group shows as a huge draw plus Leecifer is also the designer behind Super7's Honoo figure. It's with a lot of pride that we present today's interview, as this man is so well-loved and personally - one my favorite toy customizers of all time. Learn the artist's thoughts on customizing, toy flipping, social media, comedy, and more below. Furthermore, Lee hooked us up with a couple shots of his personal toy collection! Enjoy. Could you describe an average day in your life? Leecifer: "Get up at 6 am w/ my wife and get her off to work. Do computer work, design, e-mail/correspondence etc in the AM with the hope/intent to try to get to the garage/studio by Noon. If prepping for a show I may work until wee hrs of the AM but for the most part I'm starting dinner between 5-6ish." I have only seen a few custom Honoo toys, mainly by DrilOne. Any thoughts on putting together a Honoo group show? Leecifer: "Well I love to see other peoples work on this toy, but they're run in such small qty's it'd be difficult to get enough together to have for folks to paint. But I'm not giving up on the idea."
You seem to work on Super7 toys more than most. Is this a personal preference or do Super7 collectors request a lot of commissions from you? Leecifer: "I'll work on all kinds of stuff and in fact have, but I DO really like Super7 toys. They gave me some of my first toys shows, I'm friends w/ the people "behind the curtain" that make it all happen, and they produced the Honoo w/ me. I get all kinds of commissions on all kinds of toys. They only thing I wouldn't do would be something racist or anti-gay. Otherwise sky's the limit." What's the breakdown of art you create in a given 6 month period? How many paintings, customs, and other items do you work on? Leecifer: "As many as possible. I've done more than several hundred in a yr. but as I'm doing less mini's and more larger pieces the number's going down."
I love all of your Halloween custom toys and I've seen a lot of releases from you every October. Is Halloween your favorite holiday? How does your family celebrate? Leecifer: "Oh by far my favorite holiday is Halloween. I have more Halloween decorations than X-mas or did until I got married. Hahah. I haven't had the opportunity to dress up in the last few holidays, but did so religiously for YEARS! It's always Halloween in my head!!!!" Is there any chance I could convince you to release a DVD showing fans and customizers how you create your art? How much of your applied aesthetic do you think is proprietary secret vs tons of experience and innate ability? Leecifer: "I've found that artists often share process/technique info amongst themselves and not wanting to be drummed outta' the club the short answer would be "no". But nothing I do is really a secret just yrs of trial and error."
What is your stance on flipping and the secondary market? Do you buy many toys on eBay? Leecifer: "Doesn't bother me in the least. I can worry about where my art is going or concentrate on what I'm working on next. I prefer to look forward and anyone that wants a piece is more than welcome to commission one. I did buy toys on eBay and we have an extensive collection from around about the time KR started and plenty of stuff from before. Not so much recently." Could you talk about the average time it takes to customize specific toys? Like a 3" Dunny vs a Mummy Boy vs an Android? Leecifer: "Small pieces can take 4-5 hrs, larger a day or two, some really large or detailed have taken wks. Also depends heavily on what the customer wants if the piece is a commission."
I've noticed your blog and store are updated sporadically - is this because you participate in a fair amount of group shows? Leecifer: "Yup!" Do you collect many toys yourself? If so, could we see a shot of your collection? Leecifer: "As I mention above "yes". We love toys! Lots of Super7, Strangeco (I miss them horribly), misc Japanese Vinyl etc. We have a ton of KR, but don't really collect them. Hit me up if anybody wants to buy a ton of 8" Dunny's etc. Hahah. I have/had hope's for KR Black, but we only got the first piece. I'd kill for that Doze piece though - yowza!!!!"
Leecifer's toy collection. Who owns more Leecifer customs than Leecifer? You seem very active on Twitter and Flickr. Could you talk about your approach to social media? Leecifer: "Not so much Twitter as I don't even own a smart phone. Just a crappy old slider I got forever ago. You know I could take a class in "Social Media 101" and it wouldn't hurt me. I do pay for a premium flickr account out of paranoia I suppose as much as anything. I should have a better back up but for the most part that's it." Are you a comedy fan? Who are your favorite comedians and do you listen to comedy podcasts? Leecifer: "Absolutely, but I'm also a horrible Luddite who knows nothing about podcasts, where to find them, how to play them etc. All time favorite comedian would have been Bill Hicks. We've got all his CD's, followed by a couple from Patton Oswalt (who's great live) a few from Denis Leary and then having been raised poor white trash I have an unnatural affinity for the comedic stylings of Mr. Ron White. I also had the pleasure of seeing Mitch Hedberg before he died. I'd also have to mention Bobcat and of course Carlin. Not so much Sam Kinison. "
What advice do you have for up-and-coming toy customizers? Leecifer: "Like anything you want to get good at = full immersion in the scene and repetition/practice. Never stop." What can the Opportunity LOL readers look forward to from Leecifer in 2012? Leecifer: "Well I don't want to jinx it, but it looks like we're on track for an additional Honoo or two. Might see some self produced stuff, hopefully at least some resin. Got a two man show with the very talented Paul Kaiju at Dragatomi in October and a 4 man show at KO/BP's Stranger Factory in December. More group shows. A long overdue collab w/ one of my fav artists Mr Bob Conge. More commissions. Hopefully an additional collab or short run w/ some of the folks self producing stuff like the Cadaver Kid. Yeah a ton of work, which I couldn't be happier about!" Very exciting! Get more Leecifer on his Website | Myspace | Flickr | Twitter Check out our previous posts on Leecifer here. What do you think?
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