Roseville Art Co-Op Poised to Change the Game

Gone are the days of the struggling artist perched in front of a flat white canvas searching for a way to convey his or her vision.

Gone are the boring wooden frames. Gone are the bizarre perspectives. Gone are the rigid limitations of two-dimensional art.

Roseville-based artist co-op Tomodachi is taking the first steps toward transforming tradition with its We Love Vinyl art show, which will feature the work of more than 20 local artists in the burgeoning genre of do-it-yourself (DIY) three-dimensional vinyl toys.

“DIY toys are an exciting, new type of collectible pop art that allows artists to work on a 3D canvas,” Tomodachi owner Denny Park told Patch. “(Tomodachi) is a unique pop art, anime and designer toy store whose mission is to connect imagination, inspiration and creation.”

A relatively new artistic endeavor, DIY toys are able to be molded, sculpted and created in three dimensions which, according to the artists, allows them to push the boundaries of their creative inspiration.

“Working with vinyl allows you to bring so much together—drawing, painting, sculpting—it's a really transformative process,” St. Paul-based vinyl artist Daniel Campbell said. “You start of with something ordinary, that blank figure fresh out of the box, and you are presented with the opportunity to bring it to life...In vinyl if you can imagine it, you can make it.”

Minneapolis-based British vinyl artist James Powell has worked with vinyl since 2008 and understands the inherent challenges of the medium.

“You have to be a lot more creative about how you present your art and where you are placing things (with 3D vinyl figures),” Powell explained. “With a 2D canvas you just have the one angle to work with. (But) working on a figure creates a different piece depending on how you are looking at it.” 

Powell embodies the way in which interest in 3D vinyl toys has spread across the globe.

“Artists from all over the world have been sculpting, painting, and remaking these figures into anything they can imagine,” Tomodachi owner Denny Park explained. “In the past few years it’s exploded to become an international sensation.”

We Love Vinyl runs from Sept. 17 to Oct. 2 at Tomodachi in . A public launch party will be held at the Rosedale location from 4-7 p.m. on Sept. 17.

The launch party will also feature a silent auction for Imagine No Malaria and a portion of proceeds from the launch party will be donated to Roseville’s Keystone Community Food Shelf.