I got this a few years ago and I still haven’t gotten around to doing a proper shoot for it, but it’s one of my favorite pieces and I just had to share!
This acrylic sculpture is quite possibly the rarest and most expensive item in my The Little Mermaid collection! Entitled “Worlds Apart” and sculpted by Lars Loma, it features Prince Eric above-ground looking at Ariel under the sea. I’d never seen one of these before and information about it is scanty, but it originally retailed for $2500! :O Of course, I don’t think I could ever spend that much on something that didn’t have wheels or a roof, so I paid much, much less. An extra bonus is that it’s one of the Artist’s Proofs, making it even rarer! It’s gorgeous and quite large — taller than my lightbox, hence the weird angle I had to use!
In the late ’90s there was an entire line of high-end acrylic sculptures by Lars Loma of various Disney characters and scenes. Here is the information I’ve been able to dig up (photos below are not mine).
The Little Mermaid: “Worlds Apart” (1998), 16 1/2″ x 7 1/2″
Issue Price: $2500; Edition Size: 500 Numbered, 50 AP
Snow White and the Evil Queen (1997), 14 1/2″ x 12 1/2″
Issue Price: $3250; Edition Size: 350 Numbered, 35 AP
Peter Pan: “A Magical Journey To Neverland” (1998), 13″ x 12″
Issue Price: $2350; Edition Size: 350 Numbered, 35 AP
Tinker Bell (1998), 18 1/2″ x 7″
Issue Price: $2250; Edition Size: 500 Numbered, 50 AP
[No Photos Available for the Items Below]
Sleeping Beauty (1997)
Issue Price: $3750; Edition Size: 350
Lighted Sculpture Base (1997)
Included with Lars Loma Acrylic Sculptures
Issue Price: $125
Acrylic Sculpture Pedestal (1997)
Lighting Rotating Sculpture Top
Issue Price: $690
From what I can gather, all of these were made by City Art and designed/sculpted by Lars Loma. They also included certificates of authenticity and handling gloves. Since I bought mine second-hand, I’m not sure if mine should have come with a COA or gloves, but it’s possible that it didn’t since it was an artist’s proof. It did not come with the lighted sculpture base, which would’ve been a nice touch. Here’s more on the artist, cribbed from an archive.org cache of a page on mousetreasures.org:
Lars Loma was born in Toronto on January 27, 1962. He moved to California’s San Fernando Valley when he was three. His grandfather had been an art professor in Finland, and his mother was an accomplished oil-on-canvas painter. Lars’ father had created landscape paintings and sold them door-to-door. As a small boy, Loma sculpted likenesses of his parents’ friends who came to visit. Often, their friends left the Loma house with a completed work under their arm and happily paid the pint-sized artist for his efforts. Next, Lars participated in local arts and crafts fairs, where he could display and sell his work. Art became a catharsis as well as a meter. “If I had a problem, I could always lose myself in painting and sculpture.” For a time, Lars tried other careers, including modeling, acting, and even private investigation, but he invariably returned to art, his true calling.
As an art form, modern acrylic sculpture is still in its infancy. Only a handful of fine artists have pioneered the technique, using form, void, and delight, to craft images of beauty and illusion.
Among those rare few who demonstrate mastery of the art, Loma is the only one to create Disney characters, conforming to the studios exacting standards. With all the brio and skill of a medieval miniaturist, he checks the master clay sculpture against line art and the animated film, then deftly refines the facial expressions and other minute details, to bring out the true likeness of the Disney characters.
Anyway, while I do wish I knew more about it, I guess the lack of information proves its rarity? :Da In any case, it’s a stunning centerpiece to my collection, and the fact that I got it for a song (ha ha!) just enhances my enjoyment of it so much more. I hope to take better pictures of it so you can appreciate it (almost) as much as I do!
More selected pieces from my
Ariel Collection
1989 Advance One-Sheet
1/6 Vinyl Collectible Doll by Medicom
“Seahorse Surprise” by WDCC
“Worlds Apart” by Lars Loma
That Just Figures! 