Tom Melnick > Gloomies

When a young & promising artists decides to submit their work to one of the La-Culture exhibitions, we don’t necessarily know if that “piece” they submitted is a part of a bigger idea or project, we just respond to what we see and combine it with the exhibition.

On our last exhibition, “Machine/Dreams” at Mazeh 9 gallery we presented 3 colourful masks made by Tom Melnick, that turned out to be a big hit among the visitors.
And now, I am happy to show you the amazing project these masks led to.

Meet Tom Melnick and her final project “Gloomies”, A collectible doll series.
28 years old from Tel-Aviv, Graduating just now from the Illustration department of Shenkar Collage of Engineering and Design.

Gloomies are decorative toys for depressed and bummed people. The dolls express a few kinds of bad feelings those people experience sometimes like: heartbroken, anger, stress, sadness and exhaustion.

The plastic dolls ware 3d printed and hand-coloured by Tom.
Every doll has its own package that contains a booklet, pins and stickers. In addition each of the “Gloomie” dolls has its own characterising sentence to match the feeling it represents.

Tom says: “The Gloomies are not meant to help you feel better, they are cynical and pessimistic, and as a result their characterising sentence is an anti-inspirational quote”

Tom is  currently a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, she also has her own studio, “Birobidzhan” with 4 other friends.

This project was mentored by Asaf Hanuka at Shenkar Collage of Engineering and Design.

Photography: Elad Baranga