'When I was asked to make a Santa, I immediately thought of Andrew Mondia, the Santa who was sacked in November from Selfridges [for asking a woman to sit on his lap]. I wanted to create a seaside-type postcard image to illustrate the demise of Santa' Photograph: Gillian Wearing/Guardian
'This is a self-portrait as Santa Claus, on the terrace of the Bauer hotel in Venice. I’m often in Venice in November and December, when it’s foggy and wintry, and the decorations in the shops and the lights in the churches make the place feel both Christmassy and melancholic' Photograph: Juergen Teller/Guardian
'This is my impression of the miserable Christmas we’re facing. Gordon Brown is a Santa with nothing in his sack. His pockets are turned out, and he’s wearing a black armband mourning the economy' Photograph: PR
'These masks are images of three statues we commissioned for our Perfect Symmetry artwork. The statues look almost perfectly like us, but in a sinister light. We’ve put hats on the masks to give you three spooky santas' Photograph: PR/PR
'I’m a Scrooge at heart. To me, Christmas just means a lot of waste and excess. Half the country is miserable as hell. In fact, come to think of it, so is the other half' Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
'Santa is usually seen as an old man, but I imagine him as having a one-year lifespan. Every January 1 he’s reborn as a baby, in an eternal cycle' Photograph: Guardian
'It’s a surrealist image, in keeping with the rest of my work. For me, it’s reminiscent of Magritte. It’s quite wolfman like, and if a child saw this Father Christmas they would probably be a bit scared' Photograph: Polly Borland/Guardian
'Father Christmas is black – I think we all accepted that a while ago. And now Father Christmas is the president-elect of the United States' Photograph: PR
'Last year, in the village where I live, I was asked to dress up as Father Christmas and give presents to the local kids. I put on what I thought was a Scandinavian accent. When I asked what one little girl wanted for Christmas, she burst into tears. She cried, “Father Christmas is a Nazi”' Photograph: Eamonn McCabe/Guardian
'I made my Santa Claus from food because it’s so integral to Christmas. His hat has carrots underneath the cranberry sauce to rein it in, and his eyebrows are mashed potato with strips of turkey on top' Photograph: Sarah Lee/Guardian
