Now that the opening of Clutter Gallery’s 11th Annual Gift Wrapped 2023 has come and gone , we took this opportunity to ask a couple of the artists showing at Clutter Gallery for the first time a few questions!
Who is Dennis Cornetta?
I’m Dennis, I’m a toy designer, freelance designer (mostly Hasbro toy design work) and 3D artist working out of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. I’ve been creating my own toys for almost 10 years now and have been working in toy design for even longer. I’ve also got to dip my toes in the animation industry a couple times which is always fun!
Who/What are your biggest influences?
Chuck Jones, Stephen Gammell, old school Rareware games like Donkey Kong Country, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, etc.
Tell us something special about the upcoming exhibition with us.
I’ve got a BIG exclusive figure sculpted entirely for this show and probably never again because it was really difficult to create!
What are a few of your favorite tools/materials?
Cast resin, epoxy sculpt, acrylic paints
How did you find out about designer toys?
Friends I used to work with were really into soft vinyl figures, old Kidrobot Gorillaz type stuff. I had never seen anything like that before. I immediately went out and bought a blind box of Brandt Peters’ Carnies mini figures (since it was all I could afford at the time) and was hooked ever since.
What advice do you have for an aspiring artist?
Don’t be afraid to try anything. Take risks, get dangerous! Even if your creation isn’t 100% the vision in your head, it’s still art the world has never seen before.
For those not familiar with your work, how would you describe your style?
Gin-soaked Nicktoons. Honestly people have described them that way. “They remind me of like, Nickelodeon cartoons but they’re horrifying!”
Who is Stacy Pierce?
Born and raised outside of Philly. I grew up watching too much tv, eating lots of cereal and making weird art. Now that I’m older, nothing has changed, and I’m totally cool with that.
I studied animation and graduated from The University of the Arts. For years I worked as a caricature artist at a few different amusement parks. I put that art background to use now as I work full time as a tattoo artist.
Who/What are your biggest influences?
I’m very lucky to have a very talented group of friends who influence and inspire me constantly. But I’m also inspired by cartoons, tattoos, music, movies, pretty much anything pop culture related.
Tell us something special about the upcoming exhibition with us.
I’m so pumped about this exhibition! It’s the first piece that I’ve made for Clutter Gallery. Clutter always has so many different creative pieces in their shows. I’m ecstatic to be a part of it but also excited to see the other pieces!
What are a few of your favorite tools/materials?
I’ve almost always used Super Sculpey. But for this show I used Magic Sculpt epoxy and I absolutely loved it. I’m looking forward to making more pieces with it.
How did you find out about designer toys?
I remember hearing about it mostly through other artsy friends years ago. It was most likely the Kidrobot pieces that I saw first. Then I would see more and more artists who were adding their own creativity to the blank toys.
What advice do you have for an aspiring artist?
GO! GO! GO! Don’t stop creating! We’re not here for long, so create as much as you can with the time you got.
For those not familiar with your work, how would you describe your style?
Fun cartoony pop culture art!
