REDLAND
Active member
Barnaby Barford turned the traditional ornaments, bought for a few pounds from junk shops, into models which sell for as much as £8,000.
Scenes include a family devouring buckets of KFC and a hooded boy spraying graffiti on a wall.
Other models show a boy eating a McDonald's burger and more 'hoodies' causing havoc in a park.
One piece entitled 'Do it again, I didn't press record' even shows children 'happy slapping' a helpless victim.
One boy kicks a figure curled up on the floor while his accomplice films it on a mobile phone.
Mr Barford said his collection, called 'The Good, The Bad, The Belle', reflects how the youth of today are perceived by the older generation.
The 31-year-old, who lives in London with his wife Valeria, 31, added that there had been a mixed reaction to his unusual figurines.
He said: "It's been interesting to see different people's reactions to the models.
"Some people think they're horrific and others think they're funny.
"But in general there's been a great response – people enjoy the humour.
"I think people are shocked because the models catch them off guard – they're seeing these usually traditional, pretty porcelain models in a totally new context.
"In a way it is shocking but I don't believe it's in a gross way."
Mr Barford uses antique porcelain models, bought from car-boot sales and charity shops, as a base for his collection.
The original models are dismantled by the artist and given a dramatic facelift from, what he calls, the 'idealistic' images of childhood to a more humorous, modern image of youth.
He said: "Most of the porcelain figures you see in the charity shops represent some ideal of childhood and I wanted to remake that to reflect today's perceptions."
After cutting up and rearranging the pieces Mr Barford fits his transformed figurines with custom-made porcelain hoodies, mobile phones or fast-food accessories.
The whole process takes up to three months.
Mr Barford said his pieces were not meant to be a criticism of today's youth.
He said: "I'm not vilifying the youth of today in any way, I'm not telling them off but rather reflecting the way they are perceived.
"I think it's a really pertinent issue today but I didn't want to deal with the subject in a way that would put people off.
"I wasn't trying to get a particular reaction to the collection – these models have different levels, there are different ways of looking at them.
"If you want to have a laugh and just enjoy them visually that's great but there is also the opportunity to extract a deeper meaning."
Mr Barford's collection is currently on display at the Spring Projects gallery in London.
