PREVIEW

Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang and thinternet’s favourite pygmy hippo Moo Deng have been immortalised in pumpkin form by Ohio artist Jeanette Paras, 69.

Her latest creation follows Paras’ previous years’ Halloween offerings including pumpkin art depicting Taylor Swift, Donald Trump, and even Baby Yoda.

The ‘Bowen YangKin’ is a tribute to Yang’s role as SNL’s parody of Moo Deng (whose name translates to ‘Bouncy Pig’), the three-month-old pygmy hippopotamus from Thailand who became a viral star thanks to her cute, boisterous antics.
It was fully unveiled on her porch in Dublin, Ohio on Tuesday - and she is especially proud of this year’s effort and its hilarious hippo subject.

“Moo Deng burst onto the Internet in videos and memes and seemed to own the algorithm. She was everywhere! And then the appearance by Bowen Yang on SNL’s Weekend Update put them both at the top of my list,” said Paras. “I don’t make the news, I pumpkinise it. Bowen YangKin is this year’s giant celebrity pumpkin, and he represents a nice break from the other news coming at us 24 hours a day.”

The 611 lb. pumpkin was grown and donated by Rita Waits of Galena, Ohio.
For 36 years now, Paras has captured the ‘cultural zeitgeist’ through her pumpkin creations which typically range from 200 to 400 pounds.
In 2021, her Ted LassoKin weighed in at 705 pounds and is the largest displayed on the Paras Pumpkin porch.

But she has created pumpkins as large as 1,200 pounds, like ‘Carol’ from Where the Wild Things Are – which was displayed at the Ohio Governor’s residence.

Paras’ other creations include the Taylor SwiftKin (2023), the Baby YodaKin (2020), Trumpkin (2015) and the PumpKim Jong Un (2014 & 2017). They have drawn intense national and international media coverage. So much so in fact she has to go to great lengths to keep her creation a secret until its big pre-Halloween reveal.

“This is top-secret stuff. Each year, I cover the windows of my studio/garage because no one knows who it will be until the reveal,” said Paras. “It’s so much fun to do this every time; I love the reactions from my neighbours and all the people who stop by to take pictures.”

Describing how she creates the remarkable gourd, Jeanette adds: “You’ve got to start off with a clean pumpkin, so the pumpkin, or pumpkins get washed so the paint will stick. I do a small sketch, regular size, then I do a large to scale sketch. This year it is about 42 inches. So it’s giant. Some people use a projection. I don’t, I’m old school and I draw it from there and get the major features - and where they go on a 600 lb pumpkin. It’s not a flat surface.”

When Jeanette is serious about her pumpkin painting she puts on her pumpkin socks and gets going- it takes her around a week or two to nail the design. She even needs the help of a forklift truck for the big reveal! With the entire understanding of her husband.

She meticulously depicts the famous name before it gets revealed to locals in what has become a major Halloween tradition.

October is also breast cancer awareness month, which is important to Paras a two-time breast cancer ‘thriver’ as she terms it of nearly 20 years.

Paras’ pumpkin creations also raise money for a good cause as she has partnered with the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC). You can donate at www.give.osu.edu/ParasPumpkins. Paras will match the first $2,500 in donations dollar-for-dollar.

Describing the importance to both her and in general of the cause, she adds: “When things aren’t going well that’s when you are tested and my two times with breast cancer that has helped remind me of the true priorities of life. I am grateful for that much.

“My first diagnosis was in 2001 and I found it myself. That’s why self exams are very important, I was 46. And then again in 2015 I had another bout. But that was only found with a 3D mammogram. It was caught early.”

She concludes with the message: “It’s very important for women to check and give them regular mammograms”.