Gaze into the world of Tokwa Peñaflorida, the artist whose works never fail to strike a chord of children cartoons and wraithlike songstresses with mermaid sensibilities. Shying away from his usual knack for the more provocative subjects, Tokwa, for now, finds himself at peace with a more restrained notion that made him delve firmly into cartoons, fashion, and other otherworldly creatures. He may be sailing to the waters once navigated by Van Gogh and Mucha, but Tokwa is decidedly keen on exploring many diversions that will make him establish a stronger foothold within our country’s art scene. After many collaborations and illustrating a children’s book cover, he is currently mapping out a personal project which includes illustrating an e-book, prepping up future shows, and getting inked—again.
“My ideal creative space would be clean. ‘Coz after every session, I anticipate what the mess would look like, something like a scene from a disaster movie.”
Hey, Tokwa. Where are you and what was the last thing you drew today?
Hello! I’m currently here in my studio/house in Indang, Cavite. I drew a banana.
Where’d you get your name?
My real name is Joshua, but as a kid, I had speech problems. Every time I tried to pronounce my name, it always sounded more like “Tokwa” than Joshua. My parents and their friends were really big bullies, and they will always make fun of my cute speech defect. And that actually made me more familiar with my nickname than my real name. Sometimes, when people address me in my real name, they get a “Joshua-who?”
Can you briefly describe your ideal creative space? Not just a room or a house, but also your state of mind, what surrounds you, the music playing?
My ideal creative space would be clean. ‘Coz after every session, I anticipate what the mess would look like, something like a scene from a disaster movie. Also, I want it to be cool and airy. I can barely do anything creative when it’s hot, that’s why I mostly do my art stuff at night. Another thing, convenience. I want all my materials where I want them to be. And lastly, somewhere with very minimal noise; you can ask anyone who knows me how terribly easy I can get distracted. There is always music playing when I work. Anything that can eventually drown in the background when I’m working is fine with me. Sometimes I just leave calm.com playing in the background.
What do you miss—and don’t miss—about your former job in advertising?
I miss my workmates, the nightly drinking sessions with class ergo, more expensive places, and the regular pay. But I don’t miss working in advertising in general.
Talk about each of your tattoos! I especially love the LOREM IPSUM ones.
I got my first one with my best friend, Jill Adolfo. It was really a random idea, thus the random shapes of squares and a triangle for my inner arm. We just decided that it was a nice day for a tattoo, et voila. The next one was the Alphonse Mucha-inspired piece located on my chest just because he’s my idol and I love his art. The other pieces, the blue and red notepad lines for kids in my wrist, because I always write something there. The Victorian cameo picture frame for my arm doodles, so it wont look messy.
The concepts behind my tattoos are simple. I don’t want them to have special, deep meanings, because I’m scared of the idea that one day or when I get older, I will find them tacky and not so relevant anymore. If I think it’s pretty, and somehow represents my personality, I might get it tattooed. That’s the the story behind the Lorem Ipsum piece. It’s like saying, “I’m not someone pretending to be an intellectual.” It’s just a plain, empty text with an artsy treatment.
If STATUS were a person and he/she asked you to draw him a tattoo, how would it look like and which body part would you put it?
A whole-body piece ala Rick Genest—only more hip and colorful.
“I’ve had [ADHD] my whole life, so I really can’t say if it’s hard or if it’s easier without it. It’s always like watching two or more TV’s in different channels. I can only focus on one thing, and by focus, I mean for some few minutes.”
Could you talk about dealing with your ADHD outside of your art? What problems does it pose in your day-to-day?
I’ve had it my whole life, so I really can’t say if it’s hard or if it’s easier without it. It’s always like watching two or more TV’s in different channels. I can only focus on one thing, and by focus, I mean for some few minutes. I always get myself into trouble back in high school; my teachers think I was purposely not paying attention or creating some distraction while during class.
Did you ever have to take meds, and what’d they do? I used to take meds for my ADHD and I stopped writing altogether.
Nope, never had any meds specifically for my ADHD. I used to take valiums though.
The girls you created for your Hello Sailor exhibit… what are they thinking about?
My playlist during that time were tracks from Angus and Julia Stone, some Feist, some Lana Del Rey and Anomiebelle. I was trying to extract and visualize the emotions their songs have, mostly about hopeful-love, lost-love, longing and lust.
On the other end of the spectrum, what’s the sexiest painting you’ve ever made?
Back in college, my subjects are usually about sex, and it’s not the subtle kind. I’ve kinda outgrown that, and I now find the subtle representations of sensuality sexier.
Can you tell us a little about illustrating Bonggang-Bonggang Batang Beki (The Fiere and Fabulous Boy in Pink) and what made it one of your favorite projects so far?
It came as a surprise project to me. Usually, the time to develop the illustrations for children’s books take about 1-2 months to make since most pages, if not all, have an illustration in it. The given deadline by the publisher to me was only less than a week! Of course, I was really hesitant to do it at first, but I really believe in the advocacy and the moral lesson the book is offering; I couldn’t resist it. Plus, it’s the first children’s book in Southeast Asia, if not in whole Asia, to tackle homosexuality in children, opportunities like that are rare. I actually surprised myself that I was able to finish every bit of illustration—I even did the overall layout for free—in such a short time. The project has a special place in my heart.
What’s coming up for you? What’s the next crazy thing you plan to do?
I’m currently exploring and painting in oil media. I’m also planning to do a personal project which involves illustrating an e-book that was originally written by my very talented friend way back in college, Hannah Manaligod. Preparing for future shows, getting some new tattoos and finally learning how to ride a bike.
tokwap.tumblr.com
Interview by Petra Magno
Photographed by Patrick L. Jamora
For the full story, grab a copy of STATUS July 2012 issue
