Words by Louis Teo
Photos by Cheyenne Chia

We met Toby on a sunny weekday morning at CO PLAY, a communal space in town that spotlights pop artists and toy designers from the region, where his little pop-up store Tobyato Dumpling Shop is located. This wasn’t our first meeting; the 29 year-old artist affectionately known as Tobyato had previously custom-designed a pair of Sean Wotherspoon x ATMOS x ASICS GEL-Lyte III for us.

Dressed in a mix of old and new clothes, including his dad’s corduroy jacket and a tee from YouTuber Daniel Tamago’s label DRMCHSR, along with a head of freshly-dyed red hair and his signature smile, Toby was hard to miss. He chose to complete his fit with a pair of AFEW Store ASICS GEL-Lyte III, a silhouette that is close to his heart, as we learnt later.

“Hello! Just ask me anything!” he chirped as we settled down inside the cosy concept store. Tobyato Dumpling Shop opened in late April and is a “collection of works over the past few years” of his career.

Toby shares that he views his projects as dumplings, whereby the filling is the art and the skin its branding and marketing.

In less than four years, the young Singaporean has amassed an impressive CV of partnerships and design work, ranging from large scale public murals to collabs with international brands like ASICS, Uniqlo and Crocs.

He debuted his sneaker stone lion sculptures–an homage to Chinese stone lions, a symbol of luck and protection–for Sneakertopia this February. In June, he embarked on a whirlwind trip to LA where he painted a skate bus for non-profit skateboarding community Beyond the Board.

On Singapore’s National Day, we find out what keeps the budding artist going, how the local culture and art scene have shaped his art, and his love for ASICS sneakers.

---

1 On Tobyato becoming a brand name
Tobyato wasn’t meant to be a brand, it was just an IG user name that wasn’t taken at that point of time. It started when I was in university, which was when my art career began. As it grew, it went from a way of showcasing my work online to trying to make art a career, and slowly it grew into a brand.

Obviously, street culture is something that I like and enjoy but it was never “oh, I’m going to go into this, I’m going to do this brand collaboration!” That was never my intention. It just naturally progressed, which I’m very grateful for.

2 On developing his own art style
I don’t want to be influenced by a certain art style. If I’m influenced by a certain art style, all I’m trying to do is get close to that and that person’s already known for that. So, rather, I respect people for their careers, their way of thinking and the way they have presented themselves. I admire artists like KAWS and how he’s achieved so much as a visual artist in the contemporary world. I think James Jean is one of my favorite artists because he merges Asian influences into his illustrations very well.

Danish architect Bjarke Angels showed me that a creative with charisma can go very far. He’s very charismatic in interviews, he talks about his work in a certain way and people want to listen to him. It’s more than the work he produces. When you talk about art, people tend to steer the conversation towards the art; but when he speaks, people remember him along with the art, not just the art. The buildings he designed and him, it’s synonymous.

3 On pursuing art in Singapore
A lot of people, when they look at my career, they always think that there’s some big spark or big break but there never was. It was just a natural progression all the way until now. Fortunately or unfortunately, I wasn’t the best student, I went to JC and was in the Science stream but my results weren’t fantastic. In my mind, I always considered to potentially do art, but what nudged me in that direction were my results. If my results were better, I might have gone on to do business or some other course. Thankfully I didn’t, and my parents were still glad I made it to a local university.

Nowadays, the stigma towards art is getting lesser. In the past there aren’t so many art fairs but now there are queues for them. I hope as more and more of these come up, it helps to build a certain curiosity with the general public. With that curiosity comes acceptance, that it can be a career and there can be appreciation.

I think one thing that Singapore doesn’t have, that neighboring countries have, is time. Other countries are older and they had the time to build their national pride and identity. But Singapore is just 58 years old, so I think if our generation keeps going, I think eventually we will get there. The support will come up as long as we keep doing good work. I think we just need time; I don’t think it’s something we can force.

4 On utilizing social media
I never planned to dive so deep and spend so much time on social media. Then, I realised social media is social media, people follow for the person behind the work. So I made sure to do it properly, like make it a part of work, and not something at the back of my mind or when I have time.

5 On embracing his burnout
There will always be ups and downs. My career trajectory has always been very fast. I’ve been doing this for four years and I’ve come to realized that I’ve done a lot in these four years, be it in terms of collaborations or “Tobyato” the brand.

And, as with all careers, it can never always be at the same pace. There will come a point when it slows down and I think it’s reaching there. Acknowledging that this is normal is the first step, and trying to be okay with it and seeing that it will pick up again is the next. One thing I try to tell myself is: if everything is good, nothing is good. It can’t be all wins, there has to be some losses to make the wins better.

6 On his collection of ASICS GEL-Lyte IIIs
I’m more comfort over style which is why I like ASICS GEL-Lyte IIIs. I’m naturally quite playful so I let that translate to what I wear. There are real collectors with, like, 500 pairs of shoes, so I always hesitate to say I’m a collector. I have 50 pairs, which is not a lot from a collector’s point of view. I collect GEL-Lyte IIIs, and that’s on a personal sense even before my ASICS collab.

I always enjoy how they are so functional. They have a split tongue so the tongue doesn’t move around, it never cuts your leg, you can just slip in and slip out. It’s a model that ASICS had for such a long time and it’s also the first pair that I work on with ASICS.

7 On Tobyato’s next project
At the start, my intention was to make art my career and seeing if it is possible. Right now, it’s proven that it’s do-able in Singapore, other artists are doing it as well and I’m thankful to be making art too. Now… what’s next? Is Tobyato going to become a brand? Am I going to stay as an artist? What am I going to do? I’m taking the time to process and think about it.

Also, my BTO is in progress, so I’m starting to think a bit more about furniture. I’ll see how I can tread there in a more personal sense. Of course I’m not going to start a furniture design studio… maybe create a chair? Or a coffee table? Or a mirror?

Visit the Tobyato Dumpling Shop at CO PLAY, Plaza Singapura #03-67, and find more of Toby and his art on @Tobyato.

---

More SNKRDUNK Interviews:
Jahan Loh and His NDPD 1100°C Sneaker
How I Built a 3D-Printed Sneaker Brand: ALIVEFORM Founder
How to Start a Sneaker Community, as Explained by Jay from The Kickz Stand
New Balance Grey Day 2023: Up Close with NBplus65 Founder Ben Lau
Sneakertopia CEO Steve Harris on the Singapore Exhibit, its Future (and Other Things)

---

---