Name: Robert Race

Robert Race is identified on his passport as a toymaker, but his work covers a wide range: Moving toys for children and adults; simple automata; kinetic sculpture; exhibition design; mobile decorations for hospitals and restaurants; donation boxes and interactive collections of toys for museums. He tries to make things which move in simple but interesting ways: Traditional moving toys have influenced him strongly, and he has travelled in Europe, Indonesia, Mexico, India and Japan in search of them.

He has been a full-time toymaker for nearly thirty years, however he started making dolls’ houses and miniature furniture, and then subsequently concentrated on moving toys and simple automata, which have been widely exhibited in Britain, Europe and beyond. They incorporate a wide range of natural, re-used and recycled materials.

(Much recent work is in driftwood, as collecting it gives him a good excuse for going to the seaside!)