Most artists see a blank canvas as a world of creative opportunity. Finnish artist Mari Kasurinen sees those same opportunities in Hasbro's range of My Little Pony toys.
Kasurinen sets about turning the pint-sized plastic horses into a range of famous movie characters and other figures of popular culture.
If you've never imagined the swashbuckling Pirates of the Carribean hero Jack Sparrow as a horse, or never thought about an equine Darth Vader, Kasurinen can fill in the gaps. What about Princess Leia in her sexy slave costume? Or Batman and Robin? Even Elvis Presley and the hideous creatures from the Alien movies have not escaped her attention.
Kasurinen, a 25-year-old arts student from Lahti, has been studying for her fine arts masters degree for two years.
"I've always been interested in Pop art and popular culture itself." she says.
 Mari Kasurinen |
"I was looking for a way to express myself concerning today's materialism and individualism. I was very interested in the whole customisation phenomenon; how you can get anything done just for you. What does it say about people's identity today if even your credit card can't look like your neighbours one?
"When we surround ourselves with things that look just the way we want them to, what does it mean? Do we think that by that we can somehow exist more? To be what we individually are, even more?"
Kasurien confesses she had a great urge to transform something.
"I found out that you can get even toys customised. I decided that I wanted to do something with toys. At this point my interest in popular culture kicked in. I wanted to work with pop icons. I wanted to combine this great urge which we have about our own private identity with the identities of pop icons."
But why My Little Ponies? Wouldn't Barbie dolls or GI Joes cut the mustard?
"I had to find a toy which provided a good basis for my work. I tried Barbies, Action Man, He-Man dolls, tin soldiers, plastic animals ... they didn't fit.
"Then I found what I was looking for: My Little Ponies."
Kasurinen liked their simplicity.
"They didn't have a gender and the fact that I could transform a human character into pony form was really exciting. I had a lot of new nuances to play with. There were no boundaries."
Kasurinen said she had not been a particular fan of My Little Pony toys as a youngster. "I had a couple of My Little Ponies but they were just something for my Batman doll and Star Wars figures to move around with."
The range of Star Wars characters among her works hints strongly at her love of George Lucas's space adventures.
"I could talk hours and hours about Star Wars," she told Horsetalk. "Long story short - I love the 'old trilogy' - A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi."
Kasurinen says it takes from six to 15 hours to complete a piece. For moulding she uses high-quality clays that harden in the oven. For painting she uses the same acrylics recommended for scale-modelling work. They sell for around €300 (about $US400, or $NZ705), but the price depends on the complexity and size of the character.
She says she has completed commissions for people and doesn't have a problem making the same character twice.
"All of my pieces are hand-made, one-of-a-kind pieces. If commissioned, I don't have a problem re-making characters because they all end up being unique.
"Almost half of the orders I get are specific characters that are being wanted. I enjoy commissions because they give me first-hand knowledge about today's popular culture - what's 'in'," she says.
What do her friends think of her choice of artistic endeavour?
"My friends think I'm a little nuts but, then again, artists always are a little [that way]. I can always count on my closest friends when it comes to support."
Her figures have featured in two exhibitions so far and another is planned for Helsinki in May.
Kasurinen says her next step is to work with real-life icons - artists, musicians and historical people who have had an impact on the world.
Despite her adult fascination in turning horse toys into human characters, Kasurinen never had a horse as a youngster.
"Well, I wanted to have a unicorn when I was little. Does that count?"
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