CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE
海底萬花筒 Isabel Roxas
喜愛天馬行空，肆意徜徉在海洋生物的想像空間，創造給 無數個兒童們萬花筒般的絢麗世界；自己也像個大孩子的 Isabel ，創作靈感來自於城市、來自於不斷 今後，
10
2009
| dpi
還會帶給大家更多什麼樣的驚喜
？
掘的驚喜。
ILLUSTRATION
海底萬花筒
Isabel Roxas
1998 Fulbright
Roxas Magnolia
Analog Soul,
Kiddos, Happy Feet Roxas
AngINK
Isabel Roxas
SLaB
hello@studioroxas.com www.studioroxas.com
Siverlens ISABEL ROXAS is an illustrator, graphic designer, erstwhile toymaker, traveler and amateur gardener. She has engaged her talents and whimsical sense of humor across various media resulting in a number of children's books, packaging design for food (Magnolia) to indie bands (Ang Bandang Shirley), apparel for various local brands (Analog Soul, Kiddos, Happy Feet), and her own line of paper goods.She was born in Manila and graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a BA in Communication Arts in 1998. After a few years in the publishing industry, she went on to pursue her master's degree in Communication Design on a Fulbright scholarship at Pratt Institute in New York. Isabel is dedicated to protecting the Environment. She has created much of the design material for the non-profit, Children's Environmental Awareness and Action Foundation (CEAAF), and is currently at work on a book on climate change for HSBC. She is a member of Ang Illustrador ng Kabataan (AngINK), AIGA NY (The Professional Association for Design) and is an exhibiting artist at SLab, Silverlens Gallery.
02 01
03
04 05 06
01. Giant Malt 02. Little Vicks 03. Little Duck 04. Shirleys 05. 1AM/PM
06. Giant Squid vs. the Red Team (Solo show) Drawings of Hope and Fear Venue: Store for All Seasons, 2007 Medium: Watercolor Size: 8 x 24 in.
dpi
| 2009
11
CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE
海洋環保小尖兵 Studio Roxas
Surfacing
NYC
dpi : Could you talk about Studio Roxas? What are you currently working on? Roxas : Studio Roxas is the title I’ve given to my design/illustration/art practice. My background is in Children’s book illustration, and through the years I’ve branched out into graphic design, art, and product design. I currently work out of a small apartment on a quiet block in Queens (NYC), though I used to be based in Manila. I am an advocate for the environment and try to involve myself in projects that help protect reefs and endangered species. Sometimes this interest in marine life shows up in my painting as well (Img. Surfacing). I’m currently hard at work on my collection of paper goods to launch in the fall as well as a couple of book projects for children.
08 09 07
11
10 12
13 14
07. Bloom (Solo show) Drawings of Hope and Fear Venue: Store for All Seasons, 2007 Medium: Watercolor and collage Size: 8 x 24 in. 08. Little Red Fox 09. Pixie Parasosl (Solo show) Maude, Marie and Other Curiosities Venue: 20square, Silverlens photo Gallery, 2009 Medium: Resin, fabric, and driftwood Size: 5.6 x 3 x 6.6 in. Photography by: Rachel Rillo
12
2009
| dpi
10. Keen City with other pieces (group show) Alternate Endings, Deleted Scenes Venue: PABLO Gallery, 2007 Medium: mixed media Size: 12 x 16 in. Photography by: Paolo Lim 11. My dear Blue-footed Booby (Solo show) Maude, Marie and Other Curiosities Venue: 20square, Silverlens photo Gallery, 2009 Medium: Resin, fabric, bird's nest and vintage box Size: 9.44 x 5.5 in. Photography by: Rachel Rillo 12. ANG BANDANG SHIRLEY album art 13. ANG BANDANG SHIRLEY album cover 14. Patience, Grasshopper
ILLUSTRATION
海底萬花筒 dpi : What was the most signi Roxas : Moving to NYC the
Isabel Roxas
ficant event in your artistic life? first time was a big turning point in my artistic
life. I was inspired by all the creativity that swirled all around me–on the streets, on the subways, in galleries, libraries, events in the park, at restaurants, everywhere. It was incredible. It just opened up so many possibilities and I met a lot of really remarkable, gifted people who taught me to see, and emboldened me to believe I could build and make anything I set my mind to do.
靈感，來自於未知的驚奇
3D
我的紐約，我的故事
20 dpi : What is your philosophy in your art world? Roxas : I like to tell stories and I want people to be able to explore their
other Curiosities
Silverlens
MAUDE, Marie (
Maude&Marie
My Dear Blue-Footed Booby Parasols
Pixie
)
own ideas about the little worlds and scenes I’ve conjured up for them. I feel that art and illustration is way for people to explore different possibilities, not just fantastic ones. It exercises the mind in order to think more freely, more imaginatively.
dpi
| 2009
13
CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE
dpi : What’s the most challenging or dif
ficult
the dolls that I made for my show Maude,
thing while creating and producing progress
Marie other Curiosities at 20 Square, Silverlens
of your works usually? What’s the biggest
Gallery in Manila. I spent a few months
challenge to you in art filed? How do you
trudging in snow, visiting various History and
deal with that usually?
medical museums, looking at specimens,
I think finding the right story or theme to explore is the most dif
ficult thing to capture.
marveling at taxidermy, and sorting through flea markets searching for a theme and
I spend a lot of my time researching ideas,
unifying mood for the show. Once I had
exploring, collecting textures and inspiration.
that, it took a few more weeks finding just
Once I’ve developed my core ideas, then
the right fabric, frames, objects and then
it’s just a matter of execution, which normally
sculpting, sanding and putting it altogether.
goes quite quickly, unless I am teaching
It was a lot of work, but it was thoroughly
myself to do something new, like building a
satisfying as well. For this series I was inspired
3d object.
by the notion of a collector with a taste for the Odd, and for tales that tend to go awry.
dpi : Which one of the illustration is your
I wanted visitors to imagine the show was his
favorite? Could you talk about the creating
study, where his menagerie of strange little
concept?
creatures and artifacts were on display.
Roxas : I am pretty happy having created Giant Squid vs. the Red team. A couple of years ago, I was reading about a Giant S q u i d t h a t a J a p a n e s e fi l m c r e w w a s
15
17
able to capture on film for the first time. They marveled at how ferocious it was.
16
Serendipitously, I had also recently read an article about the Japanese synchronized swimming team. I’m not even sure what it was about anymore, but I had clipped the photo and put in my journal. Somehow those two ideas found a way to connect themselves in my head and I was happy to have a deliciously ambiguous scene that could either be either ominous or whimsical, depending, I suppose, on your own disposition. dpi : Which one of image made you spent the most of time and effort? What message you would like to convey through this work?? Roxas : So far, the most challenging have been
14
2009
| dpi
15. Origami 101 16. Magic Grow (Solo show) Drawings of Hope and Fear Venue: Store for All Seasons, 2007 Medium: Watercolor and collage Size: 8 x 24 in. 17. Surfacing (Group Show) Super ficial Venue: F+ART Gallery, Manila 2007 Medium: Watercolor and Handmade paper Size: 8.5 x 10. 5 inches, 4 pieces
ILLUSTRATION
海底萬花筒
Isabel Roxas
年輕，就是創造的本錢 Jonathan
dpi : What are your future goals in the art world? Roxas : So far I’ve mainly been creating small, intimate
Pictoplasma
Levine
objects that require the viewer to come close in order to fully
Giant Robot
appreciate the work. I’d like to try creating images and objects that take up an entire wall or engulf the viewer. I love the work of Ernesto Neto and recently visited one of his massive pieces at
Swoon
the Armory and it was a dreamy, wonderful experience. Also, I really enjoy the sound projects by Janet Cardiff, so perhaps a few pieces working with noise and silence might be in the oven.
Friends with You
“拼”出來的完整 Paolo Lim
Mike Sicam Alternate Endings and
Deleted Scenes Ernesto Armory
Neto Janet Cardiff
(
Keen City Group
)
dpi : For you, what is the contemporary art? Roxas : I like what’s going on at venues like Jonathan Levine Gallery here in NY, Pictoplasma in Berlin and Giant Robot in San Francisco. There are a lot of younger artists who are taking
dpi : Extra information if you might also be interested in:
their illustration, toy design or graf
Roxas : I enjoy collaborating with other artists. One show I
fiti to a different level, and I
find their work very exciting. A young artist named Swoon for
particularly enjoyed working on was called Alternate Endings
example, has moved from her wheat-pasted art on Brooklyn
and Deleted Scenes, with Paolo Lim and Mike Sicam, two
walls to sailing on a boat made from junk from Slovenia to
other artists whom I knew from College. Our creations and
Venice; groups like Friends with You started their careers by
personalities are so distinct from one another, but we wanted
creating plush animals and are now making giant balloons to
to exhibit as a unit, and not a motley collection of disparate
parade at the Miami Basel Art Fair; and the illustrator Carrie
parts, so we created this system in which we could produce
Chau last year, mounted a large show and outdoor installation
individual art pieces, that once assembled, formed a totally
in Causeway bay. It’s not just that the work has become larger
new structure. The structures/combinations we built for the show
and more ambitious. I’m impressed by the fact that they are
could only exist while the exhibit was ongoing. Once the show
able to find new ways to express their ideas and reach a
ended, each piece was sent adrift to exist on its own once
broader audience for their work.
again.
Isabel Roxas
dpi
| 2009
15