Moon Patrol centres on an object already rich with history and ambition: the 1935 Marx Buck Rogers Rocket Police Patrol, one of the most sought-after comic space toys of the twentieth century. Made from steel litho rather than tin, its bold blue-green and red palette gives the toy an unmistakable visual presence.

Its form is playfully ambiguous. With cartoon-like portholes, fins, and a tapered body, the rocket might suggest a fish moving through deep water or a bird poised for flight. In the open cockpit, Buck sits beneath an aluminium cowl, helmeted and holding his ray gun aloft. The original toy adds another theatrical dimension: when moving, it produces a distinctive “boing-boing” sound while sparks shoot from its exhaust.

The painting relocates this energetic object to the stillness of a suburban night. Resting on a path and washed in cool blue moonlight, the rocket is surrounded by lawn, where towering blades of grass reinforce its diminutive scale. Beyond, a mid-century house glows softly, with a single lamp illuminated in a window.

Above the scene, an impossibly large full moon dominates the composition, dwarfing both house and toy. Against its scale, the rocket’s heroic bravado becomes both charming and poignant. Moon Patrol balances nostalgia and wonder with a quieter meditation on ambition, imagination, and perspective: a small steel rocket bravely confronting the vastness of the night.