CHRISTIAN KOLO

The Toy Shoppe is more than just the title of this piece. It is an idea, a place, a memory in which children and adults are invited to a world of magic and love.

I can remember looking through the windows of toy stores in Chicago during Christmas time with my mother. Walking through the stores in awe and never wanting to leave. The joy it brought and the excitement it created shaped me as a child and how I grew up. But now as an adult, I feel a longing for toys, a distant memory I have when I look at old pictures or walk by those windows. Just as one grows through time, so does this piece. Starting off by walking into the Toy Shoppe, a child in wonder by all around him, gazing at every single toy, eager to play with all of them. Running around, laughing, playing, being a child. But as the piece evolves, the child becomes a man and is now walking through the Toy Shoppe, seeing all the toys he once played with and admired. As he exits, he reminisces on his past, but knows that his feelings and memories of toys, much like the Toy Shoppe, will always be open.