The Dark Bunny

Christopher Johnson is an artist and fabricator based in Edinburgh, working in the fields of sculpture, creature design and prop making under the working name of The Dark Bunny. Chris grew up in a sleepy corner of South East England and now resides in his ancestral home of Edinburgh Scotland, which he says suits his facial hair incredibly well. Ever since he was a boy he has been drawing and creating creatures, despite frowns from his Fine Art Tutor and requests from his mother to create something to hang in the house that wouldn’t scare the guests. Working as an Illustrator and a Carpenter for some years, he then moved on to do a degree in Filmmaking with a specialism in Screenwriting. After writing his dissertation on Zombies and creating a prosthetic makeup for a student film, all the various skills gained working as a Carpenter, Illustrator and Modeller started to fall into place as he began to realise what truly inspired him. Chris works digitally as well as in clay, foam, fabric and a variety of other mediums. Alongside working in Film, Theatre as a Designer and Prop-maker, he sells a range of original creature displays as well as one of a kind sculptures and wearable objects. He aims to convey in his work the experience of what it must be like to find an unknown creature or glimpse a futuristic relic. Being able to transport people into and imaginary place and time is key to his work and gives him great enjoyment. When manifesting a creature he places great emphasis on the complete character, thinking about its full, surrounding story. He wants his creations to look like they have been frozen in time from their respective lives - bringing with them a hint of this untold story. Deeply inspired by the incredible skills of such artists as Jordu Schell, Bernie Wrightson, J. M. W. Turner, William Blake and Neville Paige, to name a very select few, he strives to create pieces that are as original as possible in this very saturated world we live in today. Whilst Chris and his work have been featured in several films, TV shows and national news articles, what he truly loves is creating original creature sculptures, masks, futuristic props and wearable objects. When not elbow deep in clay, he likes to work on his Graphic Novel and write short screenplays.