Istanbul, Turkey is home to artist Imge Celepci aka Rusty Blonde who creates ultra-realistic hand-crafted sculptures and figurines. She recently unveiled her NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD DIORAMA AND COOPER FAMILY FIGURINES. This unique piece, which was commissioned by Robert Marcucci, took over a year to create and is a completely jaw-dropping recreation of the classic scene from the film where Karen Cooper is seen eating her father Harry in the basement of the house they are holed up in.
Using stills from the film, Celepci painstakingly started from scratch to recreate every tiny detail of the scene right down to the worn out rags hanging over the basement’s sink. This diorama had to be made even more sturdy than usual, as it traveled from Turkey-Istanbul to its new home in New York, USA.
Mr.Marcucci an avid horror fan is adamant that Night of the Living Dead has been a big part of his life ever since he first viewed the film at a young age, he also had a very precise way he wanted the Cooper Figurines to look.
“NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD has been in my life ever since the age of ten when I first saw it at a local theater,” he says. “Now that film seriously fucked me up back then (I lost sleep for like, two days.) After all these years I revisited it countless times and as I came into adulthood I realized how truly brilliant this film was; how its shocking moments were not only a result of being so young at the time but were also well crafted, timeless moments of terror, never diminishing in their impact. I asked that the figurines be painted in black and white, retaining the look of the film.”
The whole idea of the diorama took shape through discussions between Marcucci and Celepci (who is a crazy stickler for detail) on how the custom-made boxes should be created for the Cooper family figurines. Both lifelong fans of the film, they also wanted to incorporate the house in some way, shape, or form.
“While Robert and I were discussing what I could do for the box of the two figures (Karen and Harry Cooper) that he ordered, this idea came out,” notes Celepi. “He wanted me to create the famous scene where Karen eats her dad in the basement. Making the box looking like the house in the movie seemed like a great idea. The lid of the box would be the front side of the house and when you open the lid, you would be able to see the famous scene Karen eating her daddy. It started out like this but since I am crazy about the details, I started to make almost everything that was in the basement in the movie so the house became a diorama instead of a box, I also added Helen Cooper character to complete the basement.”
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Rusty Blonde has truly outdone herself with this set, a horror masterpiece that lives up to its source material. We are sure that George Romero would have given his trademark smile of approval this piece with his whole herat, were he alive to see it.
Check out horror-related creations from Rusty Blonde over to her Esty webpage or contact her through her Facebook account about commission work.
