Thanks to my friend, Heather Cardone, I’ve been introduced to the work of British artist, Slinkachu. He is self-described as 28, 5’9″, handsome, was inactive from 1979-2006, and now active since 2006. Sounds like my kind of guy. He had created several projects of installations, Little People, and Inner City Snail that have delighted viewers since their inceptions. Little People in the City is a book and available on Amazon.

My ‘Little People Project’ started in 2006. It involves the remodelling and painting of miniature model train set characters, which I then place and leave on the street. It is both a street art installation project and a photography project. The street-based side of my work plays with the notion of surprise and I aim to encourage city-dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings. The scenes I set up, more evident through the photography, and the titles I give these scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works.

Same Old Song

They’re Not Pests, Susan

Local Amenities for Children

Wonderland

The Lair

Life

What Brings Us Together and What Keeps Us Apart

Small Victory

In 2008 I started the ‘Inner City Snail’ project, involving the decoration of snails that I find around London. After decoration, the snails are then placed back, free to go about their business in the city. In many ways similar in theme to the ‘Little People Project’, Inner City Snail can also be seen as a satire of street art and, more generally, our need to cover every available surface of our cities with graffiti, signage and advertising.