Marvel Films

When Marvel were looking for an artist to work with on Guardians of the Galaxy, they came travelling across the universe - well, the Atlantic at least – to Emma Rodgers.

The Wirral based artist, whose work is collected all around the world, was approached last year by the iconic comic book firm about their film, which has become the smash hit of the summer.

“I was lucky enough to be approached by Marvel Films with a view to designing and making sculptures as part of the set for their forthcoming film Guardians of the Galaxy,” explains Emma.

“The sculptures would be featured in a laboratory and museum set, based on Knowhere a fictitious mining planet, which also serves as the headquarters of The Collector, played in the film by Benicio Del Toro. In the movie The Collector travels the galaxy cataloguing the different artefacts and relics he considers to be important in history. As such, he has a wide variety of rare or unique items at his disposal.

“The sculptures I created can be seen as part of The Collector’s personal possessions. For this I was asked to create pieces that were not instantly recognizable and they had to feel ‘other worldly’. I took inspiration from museum artefacts as they have a timeless quality and laboratory specimens, as I felt they would help me strip back details and focus on what was important to the piece. One of the pieces created was Man & Ape, influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution. It is two porcelain skulls layered with details using found objects including shells for teeth, latex, wire and threads for flesh. Another is Mother and Child, where I have aimed to capture the relationship between the animals and their offspring.”

The pieces range from small table top size sculptures through to an 8ft bronze puppet.

Emma also reveals: “While filming, Lucy Eyre, the assistant set decorator, invited me to look around the set at Shepperton Studios. We wandered through the prop rooms and saw the stages involved in creating the backdrop to the film, from armour and costumes through to set construction. We were also able to explore Peter Quill and Ronan’s spaceships.”

Emma has now seen the film, which is currently the most popular release in the UK and has broken box office records in the States.

“I was quite surprised to feel connected to the characters. The main pieces of my work you see in “The Collectors” starship are the Mother and Child and The Connection Puppet. It was quite surreal to see them transformed into another world.”