Passing by what seems like an endless line of factories and pachinko parlours, it’s hard to imagine how one of Tokyo’s up and coming artist draws inspiration surrounded by this backdrop.

Looking a bit closer, however, and the inspirations and motifs behind his work begin to jump out at you like the bold textures, lines, and design elements so prominent in his work. Rifling through his studio in North Tokyo, half-finished customised Converses, lay next to scraps of unfinished portraits popping out from magazines he’s recently been published in. An Australian artist now working out of Tokyo, Anthony Hayes has translated this inspiration into a line of illustrations, videos and fashion. Recently I had a chance to catch up with ‘Ant’ to discuss his new work and upcoming debut at Tokyo Design Festa.

So why’d you take the leap and base yourself out of Tokyo?

Well, I started out doing animation and motion graphics for television and advertisements in Australia for about four years and needed a change. I came to Tokyo for a holiday a few years ago and fell in love with the city and its art scene. People here have a real passion for creating and expressing their ideas that is quite refreshing compared to Sydney. It doesn’t really matter who you are or what you do, but you can pretty much find an avenue to show your wares. Pretty much every time I head out into the city, I come across something that inspires me with new ideas.

What was that about how you punked the Internet and a Tokyo Toy exhibition?

Last year, Medicom Toys had an exhibition in Tokyo and I thought it would be fun to try and generate some hype for a toy that didn’t exist. I customised a Be@rbrick and then made a fake advertisement, hyping it up as a limited edition, only for sale at the exhibition. I managed to fool a few popular collectable sites and blogs and I was surprised at how easily and quickly it spread. My site got a huge number of hits and I had a whole load of collectors contacting me, asking how they could get their hands on one. Be@rbrick collectors are pretty passionate people, so it didn’t take them to long to figure out it wasn’t real. It was quite funny.

Aside from illustrations, and collectables, I hear you’re branching out into fashion this year?

I’d always wanted to customise shoes. At first I started out customising a few pairs of Converse All-Stars for some friends and myself, and the feedback I got was really positive. So I decided to make more and sell them through my site. It’s going really well, and I recently opened up an ETSY shop, so hopefully I’ll be able to get a few more out there. It’s pretty exciting to see someone wearing my designs.

So what can we expect from you in the near and distant future?

Look out for me at the next Design Festa in May, which is the big art festival here in Tokyo. I’m doing a portrait series for that. Getting into the whole custom shoe thing has really inspired me to move towards fashion more, so I’m also working on a T-shirt line which I plan to launch at the festa and then sell through my site.

I’ve got a million-and-one ideas floating around in my head, so I’m really looking forward to the future.

Check out Anthony’s work at:

http://www.antisant.com
http://antisant.blogspot.com/
http://www.anthonyhayes.net/

Ambrose Lau

A Canadian based out of Tokyo, Ambrose Lau’s pursuit for new experiences, foods and cultures have taken him to over 100 cities in over 20 countries. In his free time, he can be found scouring the city for vintage timepieces, or playing futsal atop Tokyo skyscrapers.

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