What started several years ago as a regular drawing practice to get familiar with using a 筆ペン, or brush pen, gradually evolved into a collection of hundreds heads drawn in-transit, at music events, during meals, and other in-between moments. Some were inspired by real people, but most were drawn in the moment. While mostly focusing on the weird, awkward, funny, and less attractive moments we all have, a range of expressions are explored through the lens of play. Sometimes how we feel seems more like a character that’s engaging or even controlling us, rather than an emotion. It isn’t us, and yet, it is. When we stop engaging it, we think, “That wasn’t me.” Or, was it? Let’s embrace the comedy of the human face and our fickle emotive states.

Artist info:
Foniks is an illustrator and designer who mostly focuses on character illustration and hand-drawn typefaces. For the last 15 years, he has done illustration and design work for some of his favorite artists, record labels, and companies from some of his favorite cities. Currently based in Tokyo, he finds inspiration in people, food, shop signs, ephemera, and the many in-between moments he comes across while skateboarding through the city. Despite the ever-increasing technological accoutrements that creatives have at their disposal nowadays, he still enjoys the physical act of mark making on paper.