Welcome to the October edition of Reactor-88's Custom Corner. This month we're highlighting Shadoe Delgado. Shadoe is a full-time toy maker/customizer/artist, born and raised in central Arizona where he currently resides. Shadoe earned a degree in sculpture and primarily focused on ceramics w/steel, but then in July 2012 he came across custom vinyl art toys. He was drawn to toys as it was nice to have something he could sculpt with at home that didn’t require all the special facilities or equipment that ceramic work does. Shadoe’s work really felt like a perfect fit for the month of October- it leans towards the dark and creepy, yet there’s a certain playful, fun side to it. While there are many great aspects to his work, I think the texture and choices of color on his pieces are what really make it stand out for me. Shadoe gives some insight to his work:
“My Ceramic Work is a little more Dark, utilizing more subdued colors whereas with the toys I try to be a little more playful and use more vibrant colors. You'll tend to see masks, teeth and genitalia on my work and those tend to be the focal points for most people. With the Mask and genitals I'm playing around with this idea of Persona and not really showing who we are as well as the idea of our Shadow, all the things we tend to repress and hide from everyone else. I love teeth and how expressive the whole mouth area can be, but teeth really do it for me 😉 My favorite Color schemes for the toys are Cotton Candy Bubblegum and a kind of Blood Orange thing.”
Shadoe does take commissions, so If you’d like to contact him to discuss a project, you can email him at ShadoeDelgado[at]gmail[dot]com. He’s also has a series in the works that he’s hoping to release around Designer-Con, so if you like more info on that or just want to keep up with his work, be sure to check out his website: www.ShadoeDelgado.com. He can also be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, and of course Facebook.
