Schoony (British, 1974), a.k.a. Tristan Schoonraad, is no stranger to the world of the macabre. Cutting his teeth in Hollywood’s special effects department, perfecting copies of human bodies bloodied by war and ripped apart by explosion, his deep knowledge of casting and moulding now goes one step further into a more disturbing realm designed to disarrange and challenge the critical and the cynical.

Transition

Schoony has made the transition from the film world to the art world in the form of ‘Boy Soldiers’. The fibre glass statues of Boy soldiers made their debut at the Mutate Britain’s exhibition ‘One Foot in the Grove’. It’s a change of career which he has made a strong foothold as an artist in the industry. Nevertheless, having spent two decades working in the special effects film industry it has had a profound influence on his work.

Schoony works out of Elstree Film Studios workspace which he shares with his brother Robin Schoonraad and father, John Schoonraad of Lifecast Ltd.

Career

During his twenty year career in the film industry Schoony worked on the following movies (summary):

Mission Impossible, Alexander, Saving private Ryan, Superman Returns, Ghost Rider, Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down, Event Horizon, Lost in Space, Gladiator, Troy, Casino Royale, Rambo, The Wolfman, X Men: First Class, Where the Wild Things Are. Also he has life casted Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet and Colin Farrell amongst others.

In 2006, he worked on Rambo with his father and brother Robin, also a prosthetics expert. Making dead bodies seven days a week was punishing but rewarding and resulted in some of his best work.