I first met Tokwa when my one of my colleagues introduced me to their design collective, Thursday Room. He was one of their resident visual artists along with two others. His weapon of choice? Paint.
While I met him first as a friend, I admired his work when I finally got a chance to see his stuff. I went to one of his gallery shows in VOV. Entitled Hypnagognia, I was amazed at how beautiful his work was up close. His style was edgy but realistic, and quite dreamy. His images are those that you can really only imagine! He tells vivid, magical stories - those that are just too pretty not to see.
Tokwa has collaborated with a bunch of other young artists and has been a part of Ayala Museum's #AsOneWeCan advocacy of uplifting the Filipino contemporary art scene. He was commissioned to paint (together with Soleil Ignacio and Kris Abrigo) the walls of Heima Brixton during its first year and was coined as one of the 8 must-watch artists by the Young Star Philippines. He also recently collaborated with Chi Jihan, also a member of Thursday Room, for a very special live art performance in one of UP's events celebrating the LGBT community. He has also done commissioned work for high-profile celebs and non-celebs, and they've loved his work!
It's such a nice feeling knowing that the future of Philippine art is bright and spankin'! For non-artists like myself, I'm happy there are people who can actually really make beautiful pieces of art, and Tokwa is definitely one of them. Do check out his work and try stopping yourself from purchasing one of his gorgeous paintings. read more