Naomi Tien for FANG TO FUR
With the recently opened FANG TO FUR, we get to see Naomi Tien aka Namimon (named after 'Digimon', she tells me) debuting her first series custom-painted art toys, in addition to her sole 2D-canvas artwork (unfortunately there was yet another paitning but she could not finish in time). I had a quick Q&A with Naomi, along with descriptions for her custom toys, to share with you guys.
With the skills, details and effort she puts into her work (I had my fair share of behind-the-scenes stares lol), it would be a small matter of time before she grasps and embraces her own personal style, IMHO. And if she keeps up with her custom-work, I'd recommend you keep a keen eye out for her!
TOY-CUSTOM: Minty Not-so-Fresh - 'The big daddy of sugar skulls (a tribute to the gorgeous art that comes with the Dias de los Muertos AKA the Day of the Dead).'
TOY-CUSTOM: Fluffy -'The cutest littlest guard dog you'll ever meet!' - check out the back of the custom featuring a green-brain!
TOY-CUSTOM: What A Cute Baby - 'Your worst nightmare. A baby clown with a unibrow. And he just won't die, even after being shot in the head.'
TOY-CUSTOM: K-Dawg - 'An old and disposed robo-dog found in the dumpster from the retrofuture.'
TOYSREVIL: What is your impression/experience of painting up the toys? Something you'll be exploring again soon? I've seen your painted work before online, so this is a nice development - especially since I'm predominantly a 'toy-blog' lol
NAOMI TIEN: It was my first time painting on a 3D surface so everything about it was definitely a challenge for me! Each toy, even when blank and stark-white, has a certain personality to it and it was fun creating an identity for each of them that would match. I had also just started painting with traditional mediums this year so, I had a blast experimenting with different paints to achieve the look that I wanted for the toys. I'm going to be trying my hand at using wires, clay and other stuff to jazz up my art and to materialize more adventurous ideas.
No doubt about it, the best part is conceptualizing unique characters for the toys, and seeing it come to life (after hours of work, haha). I'd love to work on more figurines, and do even crazier stuff with them!
Above-Painting: "HOT PINK" - is an embodiment of a lot of things that are hot (pirates, vampires, girls, and giant horns).
TOYSREVIL: What's Up Next with Namimon? What can we be expecting from you soon, and in the future?
NAOMI TIEN: I'll be continuing my quest with analog art, trying to get better and quicker at painting, as I hope to churn out some art on some walls around Japan and China with my painting buddy Jiao (most of my earlier traditional works were collabs with her) this September (it's a shame there aren't many places to paint at in Singapore!).
And if any pretty blank toys come my way, I'll be sure to give them some lovin'.
[For more of Namoi, check out her Facebook, Tumblr and www.naomitien.com]
'Fang To Fur' exhibits thru June 17th @ FLABSLAB.
