One of our favorite long-time collaborators, Jenn and Tony Bot, are the dynamic husband-and-wife team behind The Bots. We’ve had the privilege of showcasing their work at Clutter Gallery since 2014 and are proud to have them as a core part of our artist family. Known for their irresistibly cute, colorful, and instantly recognizable style, Jenn and Tony’s creations have left an indelible mark on the designer toy scene.
Combining their shared passion for storytelling, art, and collectibles, Jenn and Tony create characters that capture the imagination and hearts of fans worldwide. Their signature style—marked by wide-eyed, playful expressions and a touch of nostalgia—imbues their figures with a warmth and wonder that resonates across generations.
As a staple in the art toy world, The Bots have collaborated with major brands like Kidrobot, and their recent Mini Mayhems series embodies a timeless charm that appeals to both seasoned collectors and new fans alike. Jenn’s background in digital art and Tony’s sculpting prowess form the perfect creative partnership, resulting in figures that are a beautiful marriage of artistic vision, craftsmanship, and storytelling.
Whether crafting limited-edition vinyl toys or hand-sculpted resin pieces, Jenn and Tony’s joy in creating art that sparks happiness is evident in everything they do. Their ever-growing fanbase speaks to their unique ability to bring heart and soul into each character. After their successful show this past July, we caught up with them to learn more about their inspirations and the stories behind their latest works…
Tell us a brief history about yourself.
We’re Jenn and Tony Bot, a married couple from Kentucky who have too much fun playing Mario Kart and teasing one another. We met over 20 years ago and have been running a business together since 2007. Back then, we were making polymer clay miniatures and started making a name for ourselves by selling kawaii robots and custom pets dressed up as superheroes. We’ve always been drawn to the quirky side of things, and because of that, our business has been ever-changing
.
How did you discover Designer toys?
One of our local record stores, Shake It Records, used to offer a wide variety of designer toys. At the time, we were heavily known for making original sculpts of robots and kawaii creatures, but we had recently stumbled upon a customizer of designer toys on Instagram. So, we decided to jump in—collecting way too many things along the way—while also starting to explore how we could customize toys in our own unique style. The first toy we bought was a Kozik Easter Labbit, the second was a Dalek Qee with a signed box, and the third was a 2010 Dunny where we pulled the Sket One Boom piece. It was a slippery slope from there. We were fully invested and have never looked back.
You recently had a two-person show titled Mini Mayhems, with Brucaroni at Clutter, What makes the work in this show unique/different from your usual gallery work?
This is the first gallery show where all of our pieces are original sculptures, which is ironic since that’s how our business began. Typically, our shows consist of customized toys that may have a sculpted character that accompanies them, but very early in the planning process of Mini Mayhems we realized the story we wanted to tell was best told through the eyes of two of our original characters. We knew it would be a risk and a big departure from what we have done in past exhibitions, but as we continue to grow and as we begin refocusing on original characters, this show gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase something different.
Can you share any specific inspirations or influences that shaped the pieces in this exhibition?
We immediately started prepping ideas when our show partner, David (Bruckaroni), came to us nearly two years ago with the idea of teaming up together for an exhibition. We had a ton of concepts, many that were drawn out to be custom vinyl toys, but as we talked more with Bruckaroni, things started to shape into something a bit different than what we had first intended. The show was always going to have the theme of funny misfortunes that were inspired by classic cartoons, but as a group, we decided it might be the good timing to showcase our original characters in these chaotic situations versus making only custom toys.
What role does storytelling play in your creations?
When we conceptualize a piece, we always start with the story first before moving on to any other part of our process. So many ideas have fallen victim to the simple question “why”? If it doesn’t make sense or fit well into our current theme, we won’t make it. At times this approach drives us crazy as lots of good ideas get shelved because we can’t get the piece to tell a story instead of just existing, but for us a story-first approach is paramount. We build a world, write a book without words, and then get to work creating.
Are there any particular pieces in this show that you’re especially excited about or that hold special significance for you?
As with all of our solo shows, there are always bound to be pieces that fall into our like and love categories. Oftentimes the ones that we individually like or love greatly vary which then often makes us feel as if we have a good balance.
This show in particular has some pretty great visuals and the snail character is special to us as we actually own a couple of pet snails. It made the storytelling especially silly for us because it was fun to visualize our slow-moving, calm snails causing tons of mischief and mayhem with a bunny friend. We particularly like the bright rainbow visuals in the show such as a party snail barfing up candy, a rainbow snail trail being slimed across a bunny’s mural, and rainbows dripping on the heads of our characters while they’re enjoying some mushrooms.
What do you hope the viewer/collector takes away from this
exhibition?
For so many years we worked with grumpy monsters who still had the ability to seem fun and vibrant at the same time. Admittedly, at times some of these pieces ended up being more grumpy, less fun, and often reflected our current state of mind. Recently with our work, we have consciously tried to make pieces that were happier, filled with life, and in many cases even had a brighter color palette.
Can you describe any collaborative efforts or partnerships that were involved in bringing this exhibition to life?
We teamed up with Bruckaroni to create an exhibition filled with silliness that would hopefully make people smile and brighten their days even just a bit. We wanted to give viewers a break from the real world and allow them the chance to laugh at our characters’ expense. A little schadenfreude every now and then never hurt anyone!
What makes the work in this show unique/different from your usual gallery work?
This is the first gallery show where all of our pieces are original sculptures, which is ironic since that’s how our business began. Typically, our shows consist of customized toys that may have a sculpted character that accompanies them, but very early in the planning process of Mini Mayhems we realized the story we wanted to tell was best told through the eyes of two of our original characters. We knew it would be a risk and a big departure from what we have done in past exhibitions, but as we continue to grow and as we begin refocusing on original characters, this show gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase something different.
Can you share any specific inspirations or influences that shaped the pieces in this exhibition?
We immediately started prepping ideas when our show partner, David (Bruckaroni), came to us nearly two years ago with the idea of teaming up together for an exhibition. We had a ton of concepts, many that were drawn out to be custom vinyl toys, but as we talked more with Bruckaroni, things started to shape into something a bit different than what we had first intended. The show was always going to have the theme of funny misfortunes that were inspired by classic cartoons, but as a group, we decided it might be the good timing to showcase our original characters in these chaotic situations versus making only custom toys.
What role does storytelling play in your creations?
When we conceptualize a piece, we always start with the story first before moving on to any other part of our process. So many ideas have fallen victim to the simple question “why”? If it doesn’t make sense or fit well into our current theme, we won’t make it. At times this approach drives us crazy as lots of good ideas get shelved because we can’t get the piece to tell a story instead of just existing, but for us a story-first approach is paramount. We build a world, write a book without words, and then get to work creating.
Are there any particular pieces in this show that you’re especially excited about or that hold special significance for you?
As with all of our solo shows, there are always bound to be pieces that fall into our like and love categories. Oftentimes the ones that we individually like or love greatly vary which then often makes us feel as if we have a good balance.
This show in particular has some pretty great visuals and the snail character is special to us as we actually own a couple of pet snails. It made the storytelling especially silly for us because it was fun to visualize our slow-moving, calm snails causing tons of mischief and mayhem with a bunny friend. We particularly like the bright rainbow visuals in the show such as a party snail barfing up candy, a rainbow snail trail being slimed across a bunny’s mural, and rainbows dripping on the heads of our characters while they’re enjoying some mushrooms.
Can you describe any collaborative efforts or partnerships that were involved in bringing this exhibition to life?
We teamed up with Bruckaroni to create an exhibition filled with silliness that would hopefully make people smile and brighten their days even just a bit. We wanted to give viewers a break from the real world and allow them the chance to laugh at our characters’ expense. A little schadenfreude every now and then never hurt anyone!
How do you engage with your audience or collectors beyond the gallery setting, and what role does community feedback play in your work?
Engaging with our audience and finding new collectors has been harder than ever before. In between making art, we continue to send emails, check in with our friends, interact with artists and collectors on our social media pages, and create as much content as we can. We’re very mindful of the comments and suggestions that our colleagues and collectors bring to us and it’s amazing how uplifting a quick message can truly be.
We try our best to pass along those good vibes because the art world can be a tough one to navigate, especially when you feel like you’re on an island of your own.
How do you navigate the life of an artist and parent? Do you have any advice for navigating the current market?
Being parents to two younger kids while running a small business can be just as rewarding as it can be stressful. They are old enough to criticize, which is always hilarious when we are truly trying to make something “cool.” And they are also old enough to assist with design ideas when something just isn’t coming together for us. It has been fun to watch how they live with designer toys since they are everywhere in our home. What used to be a collectible for us, is now a toy for them and I think that’s what makes the scene so unique and what makes the scene, in a way, timeless.
We watch them and feel that while the market isn’t as easy to navigate as it was 5 years ago, that it’s because of our kids and all of the other artists that have kids, that we are raising the next generation of artists who will either reinvent what made everything so special or at the very least keep the memory of our contributions to the art world alive.
Check out the remaining the pieces for this show online here