NEW... BOOKENDS
Here's the unofficial place to see the rise, evolution - and rise again - of the Taschen project which just wouldn’t quit. Inside, you’ll find bite-sized edits, sculpture progress shots, and the work stealthily folded into side projects like TUTT JONES - MALIBU'S MOST WANTED. There are offshoots too — like my VR piece TOM LA VR, which premiered at ShowStudio, London, in 2024. It’s messy. It’s ongoing. But it’s mine.
Tom of Finland - artist, rebel, and erotic architect of an entire parallel universe. He didn’t just draw men - he built entire myths. Leather-clad gods with soft eyes, impossible proportions, and unapologetic joy. His work was bold. Discovering Tom at 16 cracked my world wide open. Not only for the sex (though, yes) - but for the freedom. He made queerness heroic, desirable, invincible. Tom gave us more than images - he gave us permission. Tom of Finland saved my life.
1992 - Stockport
The story starts when I was 16, spotting Taschen’s paperback TOM OF FINLAND in W.H. Smiths, Stockport. I didn’t buy it that day I couldn't, I was with my parents, who were looking at car and sewing pattern magazines. Just seeing it - semi abstracted - felt seismic, like crossing an invisible line.
And for a whole week, from my retinas to my psyche, was that body, that bulge - those proportions, impossible and electric, burned into my memory.
I spent the next week thinking of nothing else, building the courage to go back alone. When I finally walked in, lifted it from the shelf, and carried it to the counter, it felt both small and earth-shaking at once.
Tom of Finland, First Edition, Published by Koln Benedikt Taschen, 1992
Tom of Finland, First Edition, Published by Koln Benedikt Taschen, 1992. I bought the book and barely left my room for weeks. Then I reached the story - the man - Tom himself. He had died not long before, which gave it all a strange weight. I read about the Tom of Finland Foundation, and about Durk Dehner.
At 16, I was learning CGI animation and, quietly, carving my own history. I became the first UK GCSE student to bring digital animation into an exam setting. Looking back, I think I needed it - something to obsess over and build. I had high aspirations.
1995 - Vancouver
1995 - Vancouver. I took an animation course in Vancouver. I began to realise that one day it might be possible to bring these god-like figures to life. When Toy Story came out, I realised this technology might one day make it possible. I wrote to Durk to share my passion for this idea. A few weeks later he replied with gusto - handwritten, generous, real. It started the 30 years of connection I still enjoy today. He is a pioneer, he is a visionary. He is and has always been, the Foundation - now immortalised in stone, as it were.
1996 - Soho
1996 - Soho. At 19 I got a job at Framestore, one of the top 10 VFX houses in the world. It started me on a mainstream career that has had me work on top shelf productions (primo top shelf, not porno "top shelf"). Tristar Pegasus, Levi's Odyssey, Marvel VR, Walking with Dinosaurs, The Great Gatsby... primo! I learned quickly, faked confidence, and held on. At 23, I became the youngest Head of 3D in Soho. My team grew from 10 to 30 and we won over 40 international awards. It was a crazy time. See my 3-minute reel.
After 30 years of communication and collaboration, it’s only this month (July 2025) that I have finally been able to show my Tom of Finland contribution.
2005 - Tom House
On a trip to Los Angeles, Durk and Sharp invited me to the Tom of Finland House - where Tom drew and the Foundation worked. Art fairs, residencies, and anything Durk could do to keep queer art shining. I felt nervous. I didn’t feel like I fit the aesthetic - I’m not really a leather guy - but it didn’t matter. I took a beautiful tour of the house. Not only did I see original works of art, but Durk dressed me in Tom’s actual leather. I sat on Tom’s bike, I strutted around. When the Thai food arrived, the gang dared me to answer the door. These people were my people. It ranks among the best days of my life. For me, this project is my tribute to Durk Dehner - who replied to the letter I wrote as a desperate and lost queer teenager. I had found my family. I felt incredible.
Fans of epic cocks and leather boots will know Tom of Finland was actually Touko Valio Laaksonen, from Finland. A created name to accompany - and help promote - the very different world he had built. The cliché goes that behind every great man there has to be a great woman. In that spirit, Durk is that woman. To me, Durk is as much Tom as Tom himself. So when I say Tom of Finland saved my life, I can let him know, because in a way Durk is Tom too.
2010 - Logger
Over the years I worked to sculpt the Tom figure, creating this sculpture and 3D turntable of LOGGER based on Tom’s original art using ZBrush. There’s a utopian realism in his drawings - so precise they feel photographic. That was the challenge for me. That was the invitation too. It was a quiet milestone - the first time I saw one of his men take physical form through my own hands.
2015 - Regents Canal
Fitting in Tom of Finland character development was tricky throughout the years. Day job work took over, and for 20 years I mostly developed myself as an animator and VFX Supervisor, with dreams of directing. I felt restless. Editing in my spare time for Kim Jones and feeling the itch, I left Framestore and set up my own production company, The House of Curves, on a boat in East London. We mostly worked on diverse VFX. Our top two projects were Soulwax’s 'Machine' and The Inbetweeners Movie opening titles. With real-world experience under my belt, I began asking bigger questions - what’s behind Toms drawing? What’s implied? How is the form constructed. During this time, I landed my first true directing gig - designing a fashion show for Louis Vuitton.
By the time I was confident as a sculptor, I had met Marlene Taschen. We first discussed a collection of beach accessories, and I pitched 'Beach Boys', starting with this animatic - rooted in Tom’s comic book of the same name.
Looking back, creating this trailer as I imagined - to bring Tom’s Men to life - wasn’t possible then. Instead, Taschen, the Foundation, and I chose a different product range - BOOKENDS.
2016 - Cookie Cutter Method
It was essential to me to make sure that the sculptures were as accurate as possible to the original drawings. With a VFX background, I knew how to reverse engineer and analyse 2D images in 3D. This video explains cookie cutting in 3D to perfectly match perspective and silhouette lines. At times, it felt less like sculpting and more like inflating the drawing - building the other half of the story, since we only see the front side.
2017 - BTS
Originally, I was to create three figurines - two bookends and a paperweight. I brought artist MonkeyGogo on board to help bounce ideas around. Early in the blocking phase, I specialised in head and facial details, while MonkeyGogo excelled at body and leather details. Then I fused and sculpted it all into one cohesive, 3D-printable form. We worked obsessively, yet playfully. Every crease became a conversation between the original drawing and the sculpture. Watch MonkeyGogo and me experiment with methodology to perfect the form in this BTS video.
2017 - Golden Towers AR
In 2017, I developed a political Trump piece but was talked out of releasing it. In 2025, seeing the world lean further into chaos, I want to revisit it. Read about it. Join in for NYC Pride 2026. Virtual activism remains ungoverned. Maybe it shouldn’t be - but for now, it’s a space we can use. Now is the time.
2015 > 2020 - Mini Projects
Over the years, as Taschen positioned the Bookends, I kept working with the Foundation. I used Tom House as the location for a video for the recently departed Steez Mcflyy - MAGNETO. Edits for art fairs, pitches for porn with men.com - some wild, some tender - all visible in this section of my website. Some of it serious, some horny - all part of that juicy, defiant past.
2024 - TOM LA VR
I’ve also been developing the LOGGER character into an enormous sculpture which will live in both a VR film and as an AR beacon, so that people in need can find the Tom House in Silverlake. Standing proud at 200 metres tall, it straddles the house. It is equal parts monument and a geo locational signal flare. TEST #1 marked the project’s first release, available as a YouTube 360 film here.
2024 - Final Presentation
This film was used to present the final four proposed characters to Benedikt Taschen for online sale. The other two may appear in store soon, depending on the popularity of the first launch. A strange full-circle moment - years of sculpting and dreaming distilled into one neat Vimeo link, ten years in the making. Fuck yes.
2025 - On Sale Now
Will it or won’t it launch? That question was on my mind for at least eight of the ten years of production. So imagine my delight when it appeared on the Taschen website. It’s an honour and privilege to see these beautiful items featured prominently in the online store by the very people who showed me this path 30 years ago.
The Tom of Finland Bookends are now on sale at TASCHEN.COM
Taschen’s first non-book product launch, featuring a full-on dick moment no less. Magical. Necessary
2025 - Press
It's amazing to see the work in various features. I'd love to get something of my own out there. An interview. Gotta hussle. Again...
The Future >>
I’d like to create more Bookends. We don’t just need them now - we needed them then, when the project began. We need them more than ever. And we need them standing tall - erect and 100 metres high. This is a great start.
I’d like to collaborate with Taschen on a Mixed Reality app showcasing more of their books. I’d like to finish TOM LA VR and release GOLDEN TOWERS.
With mocap, Unreal, and A.I., it’s possible to create an avatar on a laptop with an iPhone. Ultimately, I want to write the Tom of Finland movie I need to see. Here’s to the version with all the bits I missed in the last film - you know humour, love, fun... and sex.