Toym
Imao
An Interview with a
Philippine Visual Artist
and Storyteller
Photos supplied by Abdulmari Toym Imao
Toym Imao would prefer to call himself a storyteller rather than a visual artist. At the moment installation art is his favourite mode of creative expression.
Childhood
As the son of the late Abdulmari Asia Imao, Philippine National Artist for Visual Arts, Toym had the privilege of growing up with the guidance of exceptional mentors: Napoleon Abueva (National Artist for Visual Arts), Alejandro Roces (National Artist for Literature) and Marilou Diaz-Abaya (premiere Filipino director) who, along with his father, were instrumental in kindling his passion for art, Philippine history and culture.
Some of his mentors were also the old guard of the opposition to then President Ferdinand Marcos who declared Martial Law in 1972, leaving an indelible impression on Toym, resulting in his political awakening.
Despite all that, the years between 1977 to 1983 were the wonder years for a young boy looking towards the stars. It was the age of science and technology with Star Wars, sci-fi movies, Skylab, Voyager, Atari computers, and robots. That time was priceless and was an endless source of inspiration for the kinds of work Toym creates.
The Voltes V installation is his favourite work so far. It is a very sincere expression of his childhood. The images were culled from the visual wealth coming out from that period, especially the 1970s Japanese animation, packaged in a form which leaves a lot of space for people to come up with their own stories. It was a successful experiment which opened a lot of opportunities to collaborate with theatres and galleries.
It generated buzz and talk. As an artist who holds certain advocacies, Toym’s installations were a powerful medium to communicate with people, especially with the youth of today, to lure them into discovering history.
Rainman by Toym Imao
10