Description
Boy Toy is part of a series created for Denver Pride, where I explored the male form through playful, cultural symbolism and found objects. The piece features an adult male model wearing classic white Calvin Klein underwear, serving as a canvas for a dense collage of miniature objects.
Embedded across the figure is an energetic collection of what are traditionally thought of as “boyhood toys”: lizards, army men, toy guns, boats, monsters, fighters, skateboards, insects, ants, cars, and pop-culture icons like Darth Vader. These objects aren’t meant to exclude or stereotype, but to reflect the visual language many of us associate with early play—movement, action, imagination, conflict, and speed.
The work plays with nostalgia and identity, asking how early symbols of play shape ideas of masculinity, desire, and self-image later in life. By layering these small, familiar objects onto the human form, Boy Toy becomes both humorous and reflective—celebrating innocence, examining conditioning, and inviting the viewer to reconsider what we carry forward from childhood.
This piece balances erotic suggestion with humor and memory, blending pop culture, found materials, and the male body into a single, visually dense statement.
