Series: The Menu

One-of-a-Kind

When we talk about our Haitian metal art sculptures, we can categorize them into three categories: One-of-a-Kind, Limited Edition, and Catalog Items. These three "menu" items on our web catalogue represent some of the best Haitian metal art that It's Cactus has to offer. However, we have realized these names may not be well understood! This leads me to believe that a little explanation is in order so that the wonders therein might be exposed and customer curiosity might be intrigued to the point of greater exploration.

Let’s start with the One-of-a-Kinds. In one sense, every single sculpture on our website could be thought of as a One-of-a-Kind. That is the nature of handmade art. Even though the design may be re-created over and over again – as our very popular birds and sun-face pieces are, for instance – there will always be subtle differences between them. An eye might be positioned slightly forward in profile; the rays of the sun may curl a little further in, etc. However, for the purposes of our website, the distinction for this particular category means that the item is unique within our inventory; the design concepts and execution are quite obviously different from anything else that we have.

Some of our One-of-a-Kinds we find and fall in love with on visits to Haiti. We know right away that certain pieces should remain singular works that should not be put into production. In fact, some artists don’t even want to do production work. A perfect example is Michee Remy. He was a very talented and prolific artist, but he only did two production pieces for us in 15 years of working with him. It just wasn’t his thing and we knew it. All agreed that it was better that way. Michee died 11 years ago in 2011 and his work has become highly collectible because of his signature primitive style. We are fortunate to have many of his remaining works available in our One-of-a Kind section.

Other sculptures within this category are sent to us when we request design samples. Any number of variations within a basic theme will arrive in the weeks following in response to that request. Sometimes samples are similar as we are trying to find the perfect one to bring to production. Although many may fit the bill, we decide to limit ourselves to selecting one design for the catalogue. Though we agonize over this decision every time, one is chosen and replicated. The rest? You could think of them as artist’s proofs. We call them One-of-a-Kinds!

Some of our other one-of-a-kinds items are samples that we receive from new artists or artists who we have not previously worked for. These samples are used to see the quality of work and the reliability of the artist. The artists are always fairly compensated for their samples, and whether we begin working with the artist or choosing a sample to add to our catalog or not, all the samples are sold as One-of-a-Kind items. It’s a win-win-win situation!

Here's some of our favorite recent one-of-a-kinds: 

Next up on the series: Limited Editions!