A Collection of Maimed Toys Turned Artwork

As any grown-up trying to maintain order in a house full of children and animals knows, the brink of disaster is never more than a footstep away. But to Rachel Atlas, an assistant curator at RISD's Nature Lab, celebrating life's chaos can be as intriguing as trying to hide it away. So when her dog chewed up many of her children's toys, she saw a beauty in the deconstructed figures and turned them in to unique works of art.

To other toys in the house, the series of shadowboxes she created that line her stairway may serve as a macabre warning, but to the rest of us, they are an artful reminder that life shouldn't be taken too seriously and almost everything has creative potential if you know how to see it. Stay tuned next week for a full tour of Rachel's lovely collection-filled home.

Images: Sarah Rainwater

Comments (15)

wow! looking forward to see the house-tour!

I love it. I think that against the cheery yellow walls and near that cute little study nook in the last picture, they don't read that creepy to me.

I'm with kiddofish. creepy.

creepy. but i like the idea. :)

Bacon's favorite activity is to suck the appendages from his stuffed animals' bodies and then leave a trail of fluffy white stuffing around our main living areas (for us to admire what he accomplished). We then patch the holes with left over fabric from t-shirts or boxer shorts and, I must admit, the deconstructed/reconstructed toys are infinitely more interesting than the brand new ones. This is pure inspiration for us!

The sunshine yellow edges out the macabre in mho...

I'm not sure if I like the paper choices, but I certainly admire the ingenuity of the concept.

What a fabulously brilliant idea!!! 5 Stars!
When I was a child my grandfather collected all these figurines from cartoons for me. I think I still have all the Smurfs! Oh and I spotted Caillou - my daughter's favourite cartoon!!

those little animals are my dogs favorite. he leaves all other toys alone but those!!!!

i agree ... creepy.

So funny and brilliant--love it!!

Super cute and a great way to embrace chaos. What does she use to mount them...glue? Though I do spy a tab of some sort behind the orange shirted guy's elbow.

In this house, if it's broken, it gets tossed. This teaches them to take better care of their toys and to put them away so that the dog cannot eat them (as if...). That being said, the theatrics involved in actually disposing of said toy, complete with tears, gets old. This is a brilliant idea. If this is creepy, I don't want to be "normal".

P.S. You spelled "regretsy" wrong.

With all of the talk about being 'wasteful' and the need to re-use what we have, I think this ties in PERFECTLY. Rachel shows us that broken toys can have a place other then inside the trashcan and I think her thinking 'inside' the box is refreshing!