If you’re a Big Bang fan, remember GD & TOP’s 2010 single ‘Knockout’? I was looking for songs to listen to back then and my friend Brittany recommended that song to me and what drew my attention the most was seeing a humanoid toy bear in the background. Random observation huh? I wanted one but didn’t know the brand of it and where to find them. Fast forward to 5 years now, I made a post about the Fukuro restaurant I went to in Jakarta this year and the interior was decorated with the exact same toy bears from GD and TOP’s music video. I asked the owner what brand those bears were and that marked the beginnings of my passion to start collecting bearbricks. Well, I don’t have a collection yet but it is kind of a dream of mine to live with many of them under one roof. My house would be full of bearbricks to the point you can’t even walk.
Me at Fukuro restaurant
TOP with the Kaws sculpture in the ‘Knockout’ music video
GD with the Chanel bear in the ‘Knockout’ music video
GD with another bear in his ‘Crayon’ music video
What makes these bears super popular is that they’re always in collaboration with artists. They’re considered to be collectable, fashionable toys, coming in different sizes, colors, patterns and textures. I follow many Bearbrick collectors on instagram and their crazy collection of bears had me inspired to create a custom design for my very own bear. As you know I love drawing all kinds of geometric patterns and floral prints so I’m excited to continue applying my style of art onto a 3D sculpture!
My bear has some cool assistants as well! A mini ampersand bearbrick with an eraser and Danbo holding a sharpener. I’ve just finished adding a white base coat for the bear and now I’m onto the color. BUT before I do that I’m still shopping for proper paints, paint brushes and other relevant materials made for painting sculptures. I’m taking my time on this and having so much fun at the same time because it’s all quite new and the more I explore new techniques, the better. I haven’t properly painted anything since the Audrey Hepburn painting I did for North Fitzroy Social Cafe in 2013. Painting isn’t something I choose to do often as I get impatient with it but…it is a lot more soothing than drawing. The thing is, you need to dedicate yourself A LOT of time, space and energy, and lastly, accept that there will be mess on your workspace – something I still struggle with in painting (the designer part of me hates mess)…
The bear stands at 25.5cm tall so it’s not too big, like I said I’m giving myself plenty of time to get this done at least by December.
I’m on the hunt for a new iPhone case since my current hello kitty one is quickly deteriorating (has small cracks and scratches that came out of nowhere…not once have I dropped my phone either!). During my search I saw a bunch of really over-the-top-but- cool designer-inspired aesthetics and I thought it’d be fun to share my favorite ones. I’m all for ultra thin minimalistic phone cases but looking at these kinda make me go “yeah I want one just for the laughs”.
Smoking certainly kills but if I saw a real packet of Chanel cigarettes I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them and keep them forever. Of course I wouldn’t smoke them.
The Le boy handbag look. If only the case had a triple function where not only it protects your phone, enables you to wear your phone, but also can store your small belongings. Now that would be awesome.
Karl Lagerfeld’s got you covered with fur on your phone.
Heard about that Apple watch’s partnership with Hermes? It’s horrible. This case looks better.
Marc’s Melting Metallic by Marc Jacobs.
As of 2014 I’ve been avidly following the Moschino brand thanks to Lee Chaerin, Sandara Park and my favorite designer Jeremy Scott. Jeremy’s the creative director of Moschino and this guy’s just a pure maniac when it comes to designing anything. Moschino is now bolder than ever with a range of luxury items that play on popular culture packed with lots of color, fun and heaps of humor.
One of their popular products is the McDonald’s-inspired design as seen on their clothes and bags (check out their happy meal bag design). The fries are a notable product, my sister has one and it’s just ridiculous to hold and to look at.
Moschino’s Spring / Summer 2016 collection was announced last week and Jeremy introduced another great invention: a Windex iPhone case. Can you get any better than that?! I didn’t buy any of these case designs by the way, I ended up getting another generic hello kitty cover to stay true to my 5-year kitty case tradition. Yep, you can call me crazy 😀
I’m super pleased to announce that I’ve been invited to represent Australia as one of the many featured Asia Pacific artists in AAD’s new publication called ‘AAD Outstanding Illustration Artists in Asia’. It is expected to be released sometime in 2016 as a lead up to a possible thematic exhibition and an exchange seminar in 2016/2017.
AAD (The Asia Art Design Platform) aims to promote illustrators and their remarkable works with a heavy focus on highlighting the style, techniques and visual expression of the artist.
AAD is a non-profit organization devoted to art exchange and design in Taiwan. Since its birth in 2013, they’ve held a series of international design exhibitions and more than 30 international design forums across the globe. They’ve also published several books, with their new one about to be released in 2016 as mentioned above. Here are some of my favorite featured artists already on that list:
So much amazing talent, I’m proud to share the spotlight with these guys! On a side note, I’m particularly loving the comments I’m getting, especially from fellow Indonesian artists: “your surname’s Indonesian but you’re representing Australia?” Hahaha well I have been living in Aus since 1999 after all. Stay tuned for more updates on Asia Art Design’s Facebook page!
A right-brainer by day and occasional blogger by night, you've landed on a place where I live and breathe all things art, design, culture and fashion. You'll find me documenting my life in the creative field, endless travels with friends and family and a bit of food.
