YOHOREN & Yokai Hunter Boy from Rato Kim for Taipei Toy Festival 2018
Making a debut at the coming Taipei Toy Festival 2018 (October 18-21) is a brand new pair of character designs from Rato Kim ... Introducing "YOHOREN" & "HUNTER BOY"!
At time of this post, a total of 4 pairs (4 + 4) of the figures will be made available at the Boom Boom Poom Booth A30,31. Also note that online pre-order will be on October 30, 2018 (Enquiries via Ratokimtoy@gmail.com).
Let's see this wonderful video together!
Posted by Rato Kim on Saturday, August 11, 2018
Thank you so much @uncle_ssong 송행님☆
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Prototype ㅡResin type ㅡ
(YOHOREN & Yokai Hunter Boy)
#rato'syokaiseries #요호렌 #헌터보이 #라토요괴시리즈
#yohorenhunterboy #resintoy #yokaitoy #toymaker #yoksihunterboybyratokimtoy
#sculpture #Statue #designertoy #Yohoren #yokaihunterboy #toy #artwork #video #yokaivideo #yohorenvideo #hunterboyvideo
#madebyratokimtoyyohoren #figure #making #artist #Ratokim
And while their aesthetic may not necessarily provide you with an immediate visual connection to the South Korean toy-creator's current art & toys, they show another facet of her creativity, and with her new "Yokai Series" taking inspirations from folklore, and that is always fascinating and fueled with a depth of history and mythic allure, IMHO.
Let's take a slightly closer look at them on this blog, shall we? And folks at TTF can head straight to the Boom Boom Poom Booth A30, A31 - to see the pair in person!
ABOUT YOHOREN:
"I like mystery, myths, horror stories or movies. I wanted to create a completely different genre from the cute BOXCAT I made in the meantime, and I wanted to make a toy that expresses me." shared Rato Kim, who also mentioned that the genesis of YOHOREN is Korean Jang San Monster. "The original "Jang San monster" was said to reside only in the mountains of Busan (Jang San) in Korea. It does not know when it has existed since. In the meantime, it has appeared in Korean ghost stories, webtoons, novels, etc. Even now, it is said that it is seen sometimes."
(The) "Jang San monster" imitates a person's voice well, and it as well psychologically harasses it's prey (* Similar to the Greek myth "Siren"). It is called "Jang San Tiger" because it runs like a tiger in a silver hair. (* Its appearance is similar to Korean folk masks ala "lion masks").
The "fascination" I mentioned earlier extends to mythic stories from other Asian countries, where I feel sometimes creatures might actually "inter-mingle" amongst each other - be it geographically or even spiritually (IMHO), and I am intrigues to see what folks say is its "original form" ... being a modern day "tourist", I've only monster movies like "Monstrum" for visual reference (even if they are faux monsters) LOL
Rato also mentioned that; "YOHOREN expressed in my personal interpretation is blind. It is more sensitive to hearing because of lack of eyes, and big ears. He has no soul. Good and evil are not clear, and they hunt according to instinct."
"Human fears are the most delicious." YOHOREN says with a smile.
ABOUT HUNTER BOY:
Rato Kim describes him as such; "Hunter Boy is a hunter who catches the yokai. Disturb the world is 'hunter boy' have to take them to the second world. He's chasing YOHOREN. But it is not easy. YOHOREN is difficult to catch because it can fly through mountains and mountains. YOHOREN must be caught before hurting human beings."
BELOW: Painted prototypes on display at the recent Beijing Toy Show 2018:
(Facebook / Instagram / Features #onTOYSREVIL)
DATE: 2018.10.18 (Thu) - 2018.10.21 (Sun)
HOURS: 10:00-19:00 (10.21 10:00-18:30)
LOCATION: Huashan Creative Park / Building East 2
& Building Center 4B (1F & 2F)
No.1,Bade Road Sec.1,Zhong Zhen District,Taipei 100
