Originally, The Orphans were an urban narrative wheatpasted throughout the city to personalize and envliven the often repetitive and monotonous urban infrastructre. Through a simple template, a hundred-plus drawings were executed back in '08 to create the potential for "infinite" pattern making in the urban environment. That work, motivations,related paintings,prints, and everything else about us can be seen here.
Come Winter 2009 and being back in good ol' Canada, wheatpasting in -30 degree celcius weather seemed a bit unappealing and we decided to take The Orphans concept inside the studio and operate within a more "crafty" framework. Working in this manner allowed us to evolve The Orphans into a more consumer-oriented position, essentially providing an opportunity for the everyperson to purchase an Orphan(not everyone has a $1000 in their wallet to spare for a painting...), while also maintaining the integrity our of existing street art work.
In keeping with our original intention of "manufactured diversity," each Orphan is a unique and one-of-a-kind plush. Each plush embraces the following:
1. Upcycling
By recycling disposed fabric from large manufacturers, The Orphans Plush embraces an "upcycle" design philosophy. This also allows each Orphan to be a unique and diverse plush despite its initial template pattern.
2. Hand Made
Each Orphan is hand made by the artist/designer ATAW with an original screen print illustration, hand distressed for a unique 'vintage' aesthetic and hand painted for those final touches of TLC.
3. Personalization
Each Orphan is signed and numbered by ATAW--it's like artwork in plush form!
Essentially, The Orphans Plush are a bundle of artistic and crafty awesomeness ready to be picked up!
The Orphans Plush dolls are intended to independantly fund future street art projects and interventions, which although we like to do on a continual basis, we often find the financial strain to execute a coherent body of work a bit too significant.
Further, being slightly disconcerted by the 'marketization' of street art through corporate sponsored events and the inherent fallout of 'guerilla marketing' tactics, we want to emphasize a grass roots, independantly funded method of continuing out street art work.
Lastly, The Orphans Plush intend to cover the rent and let us do normal human stuff like eating and occasionally fund our bad smoking habit(although we definately don't smoke in front of the Orphans! They don't like that!).
Therefore, the purchase of an Orphan Plush doll is really a story about a little guy(literally too--i should get discounts on flights for being so thin...) trying to find his own way of making the city a more interesting place to live and your purchase is both a sponsorship and a validation of your belief in great grassroots urban experience.
The Orphans are always looking for a gallery or exhibition opportunity!
If you're a curator please send any pertinent 'Expressions of Interests' our way to info@at-aw.com or just drop us a line for us to talk about our work!
We believe The Orphans is a strong body of work suitable in an alternative gallery setting. Our diversity of paintings, drawings, street art work and photos, as well as this current line-up of Plush items appeals to a large group of individuals and price ranges.
At the current moment, we are conceptualizing a 'transient store front' for The Orphans that brings the provocativeness of street art and its commercial underpinnings into a formal, considered and critical setting. We'd love to see it happen in your gallery...
Each Orphan currently costs $30USD with a $5USD S/H fee. This applies everywhere in the world!
Payment for the Orphans is handled by Paypal.
Clicking the Paypal 'Buy Now' will direct you to a Paypal site that is not owned or operated by ATAW Illustration and Design.
Paypal's Privacy and Security Policy can be found here.
Each Orphan is delivered through Canada Xpresspost. Their scheduled delivery times can be found here.
For International Shipments, buyer is responsible for the payment of any customs/duties/taxes as per applicable country.
If your purchase is defective (missing pieces, open seams, etc.) upon arrival, we'll be more than happy to replace it for you. All refund S/H charges are to be supplied by the buyer. We, unfortunately, do not replace Orphans that have been obviously mauled or torn apart by misbehaving children,angry dogs, or any other incidents/accidents the poor Orphan may encounter...
As we do consider each Orphan to be a unique artwork, we will be more than happy to provide a Certificate of Authenticity beyond signing and numbering if requested.
Yes, I know how to sew.