We’ve covered a wide array of artists who work in pencil, acrylic, water color, pastels, and digital media. But one area of the visual arts we haven’t touched on is sculpture. Sculpture, like the graphic arts, comes in many media and ranges from colossal structures to mini installations.
Today’s artist has found unearthed treasures in the world of action figures. To the general public, perhaps they are seen as just toys. But to any Star Wars fans action figures are the sculpture of the Saga, the tools we used as kids to channel our love of adventure, the real-world embodiment of our heroes and villains. Now imagine someone with a keen enough eye to take these sacred icons and gift them with just the right touches to radically shift our view of them.
Jamie Follis does just that: delving into the wide world of figures to custom sculpt brilliant works of art that do more than just look cool. His collections invite us to an entirely different universe, time after time. Star Wars in the Wild West? Here it is! What would Vader look like as a WWI field marshal? Well step right up and see. Over and over, this modern day Michelangelo does what real artists do: break down preconceptions, draw off of collective unconscious, and breathe entirely new life into story telling.
Star Wars fans may remember his work at Celebration events, where he’s helped 1500 fans and kids build dioramas, gave away over 1000 toys to kids, and oversaw the completion of over 400 dioramas to recreate cloud city! His work is staggering and we salute him for letting us go on the ride with him.
“My name is Jamie Follis I am a full-time high school history teacher. I also have a side business as an artist/sculptor. I have been doing this professionally for 20 years. I am most known for my redesigns of Star Wars. I have helped run every Diorama Workshop at Star Wars Celebration since C2 way back in 2002 and been a panelist for my custom sculptures twice as well as offering classes on the showroom floor for the last 3. I also work as a film/maker and production designer and serve as one of the art commissioners for my city. I have also been a guest speaker at a variety of conventions usually discussing my work or the historical, religions, or cinematic influences of Star Wars.”
What drew you to Star Wars?
“I saw Star Wars in 1977 and it dominated my childhood. Birthdays, holidays, playtime were all Star Wars themed. My father was a maker before that was a term and I emulated him as a kid in making my own toys, props, and play sets. Today I teach college level world history, European history, comparative religions, and film making and on some level Star Wars exposed me at a young age to everything I teach today.”
“I first had in interest in World War 2, medieval fantasy, eastern religions, westerns cinema and Kurosawa all from interviews and things I read about Star Wars as a child. In college in the mid 90’s I wrote papers that explored the historical, mythological and religious influences of Star Wars before there were books and entire YouTube channels exploring them. So, as I began from to move from making toys to trying to express my ideas artistically the logical first place was my primary passion, Star Wars.”
“I began to take every aspect that influenced the creation of Star Wars and isolate that influence and explore it visually in my work. I believe these explorations are part of desire on my part to continually recapture the wonder Star Wars held over my imagination as a child. I try to explore the universal and timeless themes of Star Wars by constantly reinterpreting it through the lens of all the film genres and eras that influenced the original films.“
“My work fuses discarded toys with my own sculpting to make new creations and as I redesign all of Star Wars in a new way. The goal with each line is to make wholly unique creations that are all still recognizable as Star Wars. This really took off in the early 2000’s before mash ups and such things were commonplace. Before I would begin a line, I would apply my historical research skills for months and make sure this was not an avenue that had been explored visually before. Each line is basically me answering a fundamental question of “What would a Wild West Star Wars look like?”, when I complete the line I know.”
“Then the filmmaker takes over as part of my process includes me writing out an entire backstory or plot with new names and story elements and then I approach it like a production designer. Then I create the figures using a combination of kit bashing and hand sculpting. To celebrate my site’s 20 years anniversary, I just completed a new line called “Once Upon a Time in Space” that attempts to recombine all the various elements I have spent the last 20 years unraveling and dissecting. I have chosen over the years to keep this as a side profession, I love teaching, but I also love creating these new ideas and putting them out in the world for fans to enjoy.”
Jamie’s works are one-of-a-kind. Visit his site to see his amazing work: http://sillof.com/
Auctions currently on can also be found on his eBay page: https://www.ebay.com/sch/darewook/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
Also check out his Instagram page for other items that go up for sale: https://www.instagram.com/sillof/?hl=en
Many thanks to our partners at Jedi News, Fantha Tracks, Rebel Scum, Force.Net, and Bantha Bricks for supporting SWAM 2020 and sharing our posts. What a great way to share the magic of the art community! Check them out and see just how big the galaxy really is!
