The Filipino designer toymaker, graffiti artist, and rule breaker Quiccs Maiquez sits down with us to talk about the changing of the tide in the art scene.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00 always get appreciated no matter what,
00:03 just because the stuff they do is revolutionary or different.
00:07 If you're lucky enough, you get to live through those times
00:10 that your new art form becomes appreciated by more people.
00:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:29 The mural behind me was made--
00:31 we made this back in 2022 for the Jalen Green visit
00:36 in Manila.
00:37 Adidas Philippines sponsored us to paint this wall.
00:40 We were given one and a half week.
00:42 And I chose to do it with my friends
00:45 from Filipina Street Plan and Hidden Fortress Manila.
00:48 So we did a lot of these artworks within nine days
00:51 through the rain.
00:53 The thing we love most about it is Adidas Philippines
00:56 gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted to do.
00:59 So we basically represented ourselves
01:02 through our own characters and our own names
01:05 written on the walls.
01:07 Their only request was for us to make a tribute to Jalen Green
01:12 who was visiting us.
01:13 So that's what we did.
01:15 And we also painted the special car
01:17 that our friend Kevin Carlos made just for the event,
01:21 Impossible is Nothing, Sylvia car,
01:25 that you can see in one part of the mural.
01:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:31 So when I was in college, during the early years
01:36 of the internet, 1999, 2000, 2001,
01:41 I was exposed to a lot of the graffiti culture
01:44 in the States and in Europe.
01:46 Back then, there wasn't any graffiti scene
01:48 in the Philippines.
01:49 So you could say that I was like a super frustrated graffiti
01:54 artist because I didn't have access to the culture yet.
01:58 After 10 years, I started seeing that there
02:00 were local artists emerging already in Manila.
02:03 And I was fortunate enough to meet Egg Fiasco, Trip
02:07 Martinez, Chill, and Bato back in 2012.
02:10 And ever since then, I became friends with them.
02:13 And I was able to learn about the techniques they use
02:17 because it takes a different art skill
02:19 to master how to use the spray paint as a medium instead
02:24 of using the paintbrush.
02:25 That was a different skill set that I
02:28 needed to learn on my own and through their guidance.
02:31 I had fun emerging myself into the graffiti culture, which
02:35 I already had passion for since early 1999.
02:40 But like what I said, I only had access through the culture
02:45 10 years after.
02:46 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:49 The scene here is still very young,
02:53 but there are a lot of really talented artists
02:55 in the Philippines.
02:56 So it's very natural to see a lot of really great painters
03:01 in the Philippines.
03:02 As great as you can see in the traditional art scene,
03:05 if you look at the graffiti art culture here in the Philippines,
03:08 it reflects the same amount of talent
03:11 that the Filipinos naturally have.
03:13 It's quite an easy transition for natural-born artists
03:16 to do graffiti if they wanted to.
03:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:22 My brother and I grew up as children
03:27 watching weekend cartoons that we
03:31 would see on local channels.
03:33 And these would be mainly Voltes 5, Dymos, Bioman,
03:39 and the like, and of course, Transformers.
03:42 And then through the '90s, Gundam and Evangelion.
03:45 I had a natural love for Japanese robots.
03:50 Me being an artist early on, I was also
03:54 experimenting on creating my own robots.
03:58 So Tech 63, my character right now
04:01 that I paint a lot on walls, is heavily
04:04 influenced by all of these Japanese robot cartoons
04:07 that I used to watch as a kid.
04:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:12 The filmmaker and the fact that Kurosawa Films
04:20 influenced a lot George Lucas when
04:22 he was developing Star Wars.
04:24 So if you'd see Episode 4, A New Hope,
04:28 it's heavily based on The Hidden Fortress and his other movies
04:34 in terms of style.
04:37 Even the name Hidden Fortress is also relevant to me.
04:40 So Ghost of Kurosawa as a character
04:42 is a combination of Star Wars, Darth Vader face,
04:46 and Akira Kurosawa's samurai film, Seven Samurai,
04:50 and a little bit of World War II influences too,
04:53 which also directly influenced George Lucas
04:57 in making Star Wars.
04:58 So it's a whole mixture of influences.
05:01 But basically, it revolves around Star Wars and George
05:05 Lucas.
05:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:09 It's more of the fact that I wanted to represent myself
05:16 into a character.
05:17 The formula I had was just to embody all of the biggest
05:22 influences I had as a kid.
05:24 I really love hip hop.
05:25 I really love graffiti art.
05:27 And I really love Japanese robots.
05:29 If you see my characters, it's always
05:31 a combination of these three subcultures combined.
05:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:38 Art toys, I think, basically started
05:44 with the movement in Hong Kong, like Alex So and Michael Lau.
05:48 They were the first artists to create their own toys.
05:51 And I would see their art figures in Mega Mall
05:54 during the early 2000s in American Boulevard,
05:57 this hip hop shop in Mega Mall.
06:01 And I've always dreamt of creating my own version
06:04 someday that was early 2000.
06:06 I think designer art toy scene is very young.
06:10 Started in the early 2000s, and it caught up in the States,
06:14 I'd say mid-2000s, with the growth of companies
06:18 like Kidrobot.
06:19 They were the forerunners in the art toy culture back then.
06:25 With most hyped up products, I think the Philippines always
06:31 follows the trends of the Americans.
06:34 So we were kind of late in appreciating art toys.
06:37 But with most countries, it always
06:40 starts with commercial toys that you'd see in Toy Kingdom.
06:43 And then eventually, when they get
06:44 exposed to the likes of Bearbricks and Paws,
06:48 it naturally follows that they get
06:49 attracted to local artists who create their own toys, too.
06:53 So I guess it's a natural progression for us.
06:56 We're not the last to get into it.
07:00 Actually, I think Dubai is only starting
07:03 to appreciate art toys right now.
07:05 And a lot of countries don't even know much about it.
07:08 I think we're ahead in terms of that as a country.
07:12 And there's a lot of growth left for more people
07:16 to appreciate self-made art toys by artists.
07:26 One of the most integral foundations
07:32 I had for my art career was to never follow the norm.
07:36 I grew up being exposed to artists
07:39 that had a specific direction of creating a name for yourself
07:44 through gallery shows and doing paintings,
07:47 and then repeating the cycle all over again.
07:50 And on the side, getting art commissions
07:53 from private collectors.
07:55 I wanted to show, I guess, a new path for people to take,
08:00 especially now that there's social media.
08:02 I kind of wanted to send the message that you
08:05 can do things on your own.
08:07 And that's why I'm only loyal to one specific gallery
08:12 in the Philippines.
08:13 It's the only gallery that I hold shows,
08:17 which is Secret Fresh, owned by Big Boy Cheng.
08:19 But besides that, I really wanted
08:21 to show artists that there are several paths for you
08:25 to take to make a career out of art.
08:29 That's why I chose the medium of doing designer toys,
08:33 because it was something that's highly
08:35 unusual for artists to do.
08:37 Something that hasn't been done in the Philippines.
08:40 So I guess I was fortunate enough
08:42 to be able to go all in on it, being one of the firsts.
08:47 Although I'm not the first.
08:49 A lot of other Filipino artists also
08:52 started making their own toys.
08:55 But I guess I was the one who was stuck
08:57 to people's heads the most.
08:59 That's why we were also able to attract other brands
09:02 to work with us.
09:03 As an artist, and I guess as a brand,
09:12 I really get excited working with people
09:15 that have something new to bring into the table,
09:20 or something creative challenge that is presented to me.
09:25 That I get to practice my graphic design skills as well.
09:29 So we have a lot in store for the future.
09:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:40 (upbeat music)