Collection: Funchicken

Funchicken: Dream Residue is a blast of collaborative chaos by artists Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson. This exhibition drops viewers straight into the warped, neon-soaked brain of Funchicken: a DIY universe fueled by zines, copy-machine mutations, 80s weirdness, and unapologetic absurdity.

Funchicken isn’t a side project—it’s a creative free-for-all. Todd and Watson ditch the rules of their individual practices to experiment with limited-edition prints, designer toys, wearables, and paintings that feel fast, handmade, and slightly unhinged. Think cut-and-paste logic, lo-fi aesthetics, and humor that doesn’t ask permission.

On their own, both artists are heavy hitters. Esther Pearl Watson exhibits internationally and publishes comics with Fantagraphics Books. Mark Todd co-owns and curates HeyThere Projects, a gallery and gift shop planted in the desert of Joshua Tree, California. Together, they crank the volume higher—turning collaboration into collision.

Todd and Watson are longtime champions of zine culture and underground publishing, creating numerous zines and books, including the cult-favorite Whatcha’ Mean, What’s a Zine?, a go-to guide for DIY publishers and mini-comic misfits everywhere. Their work lives somewhere between art object, artifact, and inside joke.

Past Funchicken projects include Record Store from Outer Space, an interactive installation at Felix Fair in Los Angeles, and The Transporter Library at the Wignall Museum at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California—projects that invite viewers to touch, dig, flip through, and get involved.

Currently bouncing between Joshua Tree, Los Angeles, and West Texas, Todd and Watson continue to expand the Funchicken universe—loud, low-budget, high-energy, and proudly weird.

Funchicken: Dream Residue is messy, funny, and handmade on purpose. No clean lines. No art-world pretense. Just pure creative fallout.