Hello folks!

I'm toymaker Vickangaroo.  I generally create smaller toys including cute little crabs, dinosaurs and a variety of bunnies that would fit in the palm of your hand.  On occasion I set out to make a monster.  They're usually a bit larger, somewhere between 10-15" long and nearly just as tall.  These toys are a bit wilder and a bit toothier.

This time I'd like to work much larger, much wilder.  I'd like to create a soft, fiber sculpture that is 12 to 15 feet long and between 3 to 4 feet tall.  It will be composed entirely of fabric and polyester-fiber filling.  

"Mama: A Cryptozoological Study of Maternal Behavior."

That was the original title of a project I had imagined a while ago.  It would have been composed of a series of screenprints that would depict all sorts of imaginary, terrifying, monstrous creatures raising and caring for their delightfully adorable young.

Now, "Mama" will be the name for the main creature produced by this project.  She's going to be a massive and powerful creature with a mouthful of gnarly, chomping teeth.  She'll have half a dozen tentacles and several pairs of armored claws.  On her back will be a clutch of developing eggs, each ready to burst out and explore the world beyond!

Concept Art for Mama:

A rough digital sculpt of the potential overall shape of Mama:

Ultimately, as Mama comes together I'd like to see her on display in a gallery space, preferably here in Chicago.  She'll be joined by a school of her own adorable, bobbley brood, "the Tots" as pictured above.

Not only do I want Mama to be large but I want her to be as visually interesting as possible.  While I do have designs set out and a rough idea of how to construct Mama, a great deal of this project will be improvised.  

I want the creation of her shape to be born from the work; she might need another tentacle and some of the suckers may need little teeth.  She might have armored plates that have been scratched and bear the marks of devastating encounters with other monstrous threats.  Who knows what sorts of wild inspiration may occur during the process of bringing Mama to life!

What Mama Needs:

The main ingredients for this project are fabric, thread, and stuffing.  It's a rough estimate, but I'm expecting that Mama, on her own, will utilize at least forty pounds of polyester-fiber filling and several yards of dozens of different sorts of fabric.

I delight in creating texture by matching a multitude of unexpected and different fabric. I want to utilize scraps of cotton and fleece, mixed with already textured upholstery fabric, and plastic vinyls. Faux fur creeping over her arms and body acting as needle-like spindles or decades of flourishing algae growth.

A fair amount of fleece and stuffing will be needed to create the plush toy "Tot," one of Mama's babies, that will be available to backers of this project.  Also in regards to the awards, a portion of the funding will be spent on paper, ink, and a small number of screenprinting related supplies.

Rewards:

Backers will be receiving a few sweet, project exclusive rewards.

Choice of four available 5x5" single color hand pulled screenprints inspired by the concept art for Mama.

A handmade unhatched egg plush, just like the babies resting comfortably within Mama's egg clutch.

A handmade Tot plush. Limited to however many are created as rewards for backers of this project.

A limited three color 7x10" hand pulled screenprint created during the construction of Mama.

These items are exclusive to this kickstarter project and will not be available anywhere else to anybody else.

Previous Work by Vickangaroo:

To give everybody an idea of what my work in the past has been like, here are a few images of some of my favorite work.  Of course, Mama is going to be bigger and wilder than anything I've done before with substantial detail and just a plethora of character!

Follow along here and on http://kickangaroo.tumblr.com as the project progresses.  Weekly updates on the making of Mama!  You'll get to see how all the bits and pieces will come together to form a massive monster plush!