Han Solo Is a Literal Work of Art in a Stunning New Sideshow Statue

We may think of Star Wars as futuristic but never forget it’s actually set a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars is the past and with a new series of art pieces, artist Daniel Arsham has reimagined some of the franchise’s iconic pieces as ancient relics. Or, as he’d say, “future relics.”

Released by Sideshow Collectibles, the series is called Crystallized Relics and to date, two pieces have been revealed: C-3PO and R2-D2. This week though, Sideshow is finally pulling the curtain back on the ultimate relic in the Star Wars universe: Han Solo in Carbonite, and io9 has your exclusive reveal. We also had Arsham himself, well-known for his similar Pokémon pieces, and Sideshow’s VP of Strategic Initiatives Anna Van Slee answer a few questions about the collaboration.

Click through the slideshow to read that interview, and check out all the first-look images. Keep an eye on this page for more info on the Han in Carbonite piece.

Germain Lussier, io9: How did this collaboration begin?

Anna Van Slee: Simply put, this collection is born out of a mutual love of Star Wars.

The Star Wars films, books, video games—the incredible universe that Lucasfilm has created—has great personal significance to millions of people for billions of different reasons. The fandom spans almost half a century. It’s embedded in our global pop culture, or creative consciousness, and our anthropological history. Sideshow’s creative team was eager to partner with Daniel Arsham to bring his “future relic” aesthetic to the Star Wars collectible realm because we found his fictional archeology to be not only visually compelling, but a wonderful interpretation of the timeless impact of Star Wars as a cultural force (pun intended).

We are incredibly grateful for Lucasfilm’s encouragement and support as we bring this unique creative partnership with Daniel to collectors and fans. It’s been a long road, but the results are truly something special.

io9: What were the discussions like about what pieces of Star Wars would be part of this series?

Van Slee: From the outset, Daniel had a very clear vision for the characters, form factors, and materials in this collection. It was fascinating to hear, from Daniel’s perspective, which characters he felt were the most iconic, the most meaningful to him as a fellow fan, and the best subjects for his art. Our creative team was excited to go on this journey with him.

Daniel Arsham: In relation to Star Wars, the selection of pieces that I created were essentially what I felt were the most significant characters to me personally. I also selected the materials that those would be created in.

io9: Tell me about the design process to give these pieces the appropriate amount of wear and tear. Where do you start, how do you know when you’ve reached the end, and have you ever gone too far that the image wasn’t instantly recognizable to the image?

Arsham: The works often have the sense that they are in a state of erosion. They feel as if we’re reviewing them in some future scenario, where the works are appearing in a state of decay, like a we’re in a future Archaeological Museum. But, they contrast that by often being made of crystal—which is a material that we associate actually with forward entropy. So, the question for the audience is: “are the works falling apart, or, are they actually growing to some kind of completion, forming in front of our eyes?”

io9: In real life, when things fade and age, they tend to rust or get darker. Why the choice of white in these works which is the opposite of that?

Arsham: I think the choice of color for these works is more about crystallization. Often, I’m using quartz or amethyst or blue calcite. And so, the color of the work comes from the color of the crystal.

io9: How does the sculpting process work? What kind of tools are used, what is the original raw material, and how are the final pieces made?

Arsham: The originals are sometimes a combination of 3D printed elements, some clay work, sometimes there’s some plaster sculpting involved. Then a mold is made of the completed positive. The molds are used to make the final artworks.

Van Slee: It’s worth noting that there are three different types of artworks in the Star Wars x Arsham collaboration, each with a slightly different development process. The materials and tools of the editions vary widely from piece to piece—for example, some are created in polystone, others are bronze, and others are stainless steel. This collection has been exciting for us with regards to the diverse range of materials.

Daniel has already spoken to the one-of-kind, larger scale works that are hand-crafted in his studio in New York and will appear in art galleries around the world. In addition to that, Daniel and his Arsham Studio team are producing ultra-limited-edition pieces (editions of 99 and 500). Then, Sideshow is creating several limited-edition Crystallized Relic Statues as well—sold via our website. The first wave will be C-3PO, R2-D2, and the Han Solo in Carbonite.

io9: Once a product is done, what goes into deciding its edition size and cost?

Arsham: The edition sizes for my works have traditionally been editions of 500. Although I have done some more limited versions of 99 in the past. Our demand was always higher than that, so it allowed for as many people as possible to get it, while still holding the value in the actual artwork.

Van Seen: That’s a great question! We’re always trying to find the perfect balance—working behind the scenes to determine how to make artwork accessible, affordable, and available to fans, whilst also maintaining its collectability and value. As a studio specializing in collectibles this is a responsibility that we take very seriously and care about a great deal.

io9: I tend to think of high-end collectibles sold by Sideshow as art on their own. But when you bring this added artistic element into it, it almost brings that into question. Where is the line between fine art and pop culture collectibles?

Arsham: My work has always sort of floated between these different audiences, because of my own relationships with a lot of people outside of the traditional art universe. My audiences have tended to be in a wide range. People that might collect more traditional, what we would think of as “sculpture,” or people that would collect something similar to what we would think of as an “edition” or a “collectible.”

Van Seen: Thank you for the kind words. At Sideshow we believe that there are multiple definitions of what constitutes “art” and that those definitions are never mutually exclusive. The language that we at Sideshow may use to distinguish an artform in the collector community may potentially vary from terminology used in museums or galleries, but there are numerous junctures where these worlds overlap and our passion and excitement for art—and in this case a fandom—collide.

io9: You’ve announced C-3PO, R2-D2, and Han in Carbonite. Do you see this line moving forward beyond that? If so, is there an ending to it or could it just keep going and going?

Arsham: I’ve been a fan of Star Wars since I can remember, and it’s been such a beautiful thing to be able to work with some of my favorite Star Wars characters. We’ll see where it goes from there.

Van Seen: Let’s just say that, as a business, we like to model our collections after the best storytelling endings: to leave the audience satisfied, but also dreaming of what more there could be…

And here are the three so far.

The first statue in Sideshow’s Star Wars X Arsham line, C-3PO, is currently waitlisted. The second statue, R2-D2, is currently on pre-order (while supplies last), and due to ship early 2024.