Imagine,

A book.

Imagine a book about nothing

okay not really

it’s a book abt

some things

circles

dots

lines

shapes

sounds

stuffs and more stuffs

processes

about the subtle or not so subtle

mouvements of the inbetween

spaces.

light.

Maybe it’s a book abt mirrors

perfectly transparent mirrors.

Dates carried in pockets

bells that ring at random times

loops and patterns

and

coincidences

and alignments

that’s it

Imagine.

what do u see?

What’s up

The big Toe and Theory of everything*

Here a definition :

A system is a group of parts that are connected and affect each other.

Closed my show at the MacLaren art Center with a talk about my own application of system theory and how it manifest in my practice .

Talking about almost 2 decades of artmaking accross multiple continents and cities is a fun challenge , it was Barrie fun to do!**

🎬 Here’s the highlight reel:

1.

I talked about how graffiti was fundamental to my practice. Meeting and hanging out with the OGs of the game in New York helped demystify the artist mystique and fame—they were just regular people fully immersed in their craft. Getting my work published and then discovering it by chance in a book two years after leaving New York, tucked away in a random Parisian bookstore among a thousand other books, demonstrated a sort of magic that even now, I’m sometimes still amazed when I think about it—but hey, that’s patterns and alignment for you.

2.

Next, I explained how the very rigorous animation training and practice was actually my first introduction to systems theory—before I even knew what systems thinking was. Animation, at its core, is deceptively simple:

Drawings that move… and can also move you.

Here’s how it works:

• You have a bunch of drawings that move, but the movements are not random***—u create a storyboard: rough visual panels showing shots and indicating the movements.

• The not random movements put together create a sequence , the sequences are not random either—u create an animatic , a storyboard timed with sound/music

• The sequences put together create a scene, the scenes are not random—u refine the animatic as you progress

• The scenes together create a movie

If the animator(s) did their job well, the movie conveys a feeling.

That feeling isn’t random—someone**** thought and felt it

and decided that a series of moving drawings was the best way to express it.

wild.

Below are some things that move

This small bone disc marked with a deer on each side. It was made at least 14,000 years ago and when it spins, it looks like the deer is running

Moment( 1 minute film)

I took 1400 drawings to be made, over a period of 4 months .

Le Flan (2minutes film)

Took 4 months , and after the first month i stopped counting the drawings because there were too many and I was also working on other projects at the same time.

The point i’m trying to make is that a “simple” thing like animation can take a long time and in order to make everything move along the way u want , you need a pipeline

A pipeline is the structured sequence of steps used to create a finished animated project—from the first idea all the way to the final render or export. Think of it like an assembly line: each stage builds on the previous one, and different artists or teams handle specific parts unless you are working alone

GASP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That… looks a lot like a system!

3.

We talked about the neuroscience of skill acquisition

Here a definition :

“The discomfort zone (or ‘sweet spot’) is the range of difficulty where a task is just hard enough to cause mistakes and require focus, but not so hard that you give up—making it the most effective place for learning and improvement.

I applied this approach to learning how to paint with my mentors Keita Morimoto and Megan Ellen Macdonald. The process is simple:

1. Observe the skill.

2. Chunk it into steps to replicate.

3. Deep practice (short ,timed sessions)with no distractions.

4. Add incremental difficulty—create friction in the sweet spot.

5. Non-judgmental awareness.

6. Non-judgmental feedback.

7. Rest.

8. Repeat (spaced repetitions).

9. Relax.

10. Gain the SKILLZ!! Celebrate , buy some flowers,watch a show,read,go for a run ect ect

For example, this is how it is embodied when I mentor or coach artists:

1. Demo the skill.

2. Practice time.

3. Increase difficulty—create friction just above current abilities (sweet spot).

4. Have them observe and reflect non-judgmentally on their attempts

5. Repeat.

6. Relax—jokes, music, and snacks included!

That’s it. The key is consistent practice and being aware of the direction of your goals.

Also talked about the Big Toe :

The Big Toe : a nickname for the city of toronto, a body of work of painted scenes of the city(of Toronto), a big theory of everything (toe) relative to the creation/production/research/innovation in my own practice

I had different bodies of work in the show, and here’s how 2 of them are connected:

The Big Toe:

Complex to simple

The Big Toe is an ongoing series of Miniatures paintings 2x3 inches that came from walking*****, observing, and stopping over and over in Toronto at 5 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m., 9 p.m., and sometimes in the quiet of the night. These plein air paintings are my laboratory — where the constant change in light teach me more than any theorical book on painting ever could.

I am learning how to see and exploring the process of simplification — reducing complexity to essential gestures of light and form. Each painting becomes a research study in perception, a methodical observation of light and color across time.

I also use them as a teaching tool in my classes. They help me demonstrate concepts from skill acquisition, like friction and discomfort, which can accelerate learning—something I mentioned earlier.

The paintings are intentionally small, and I work with a big brush. Toronto has a lot of visual complexity, so I need to find ways to make a scene simpler. Using a brush bigger than the smallest details forces me to develop mark-making, brushwork, and simplification skills—another layer of friction that strengthens my practice.

It’s very much like why Goku in Dragon Ball and Rock Lee in Naruto train with weighted equipment: by adding resistance, you make your body (or in my case, your brushwork and perception) stronger and more precise when the extra weight is removed.

GOKU _ROCK LEE PLOT TWIST!!!

Amplification through simplification is another concept that links to a different body of work: The L.O.L. Series. by R.O.F.L

L.O.L. : Laughing Out Loud: a common internet acronym used to indicate laughter, also Low Orbit lives: characters who live small, limited, or constrained lives — close to their immediate surroundings, routines, or problems.

R.O.F.L. – Rolling On the Floor Laughing
A common internet acronym, used to show that something is extremely funny—basically an exaggerated, playful way to say “hilarious.”, also Raoul Olou For Life an alternative way for R.O.I Olou to sign works

The L.o.L series:

Simple to Complex

This series expands on the idea of amplification through simplification.

It sounds backwards at first, but the idea is simple:

The less detail you show, the more you can emphasize what matters.

When you remove unnecessary details:

• The viewer isn’t distracted

• The core idea becomes clearer

• Emotions and meaning become stronger

For example:

• A highly detailed realistic face → you notice specific features

• A simple cartoon face → you focus on the expression and emotion

By simplifying, you actually amplify the message.

Animation uses this principle all the time to make characters and stories more powerful.

Simplified characters—with big eyes, clear shapes, and minimal detail—make emotions easier to read.

• A tiny eyebrow movement on a simple face → immediately noticeable

• The same movement on a realistic face → can easily get lost in detail

That’s why many animated characters often feel more expressive than real people.

Below is an extract from Understanding Comics: A Comprehensive Guide to the Art and Craft of Comics, Exploring Visual Storytelling by Scott McCloud, which explains the idea of amplification through simplification in visual storytelling.

The first l.o.l

there are a lot of smiley motifs hidden in the pieces

L.O.L by R.O.F.L (😊 → 🤣)

To create the L.O.L. Series, I’m connecting five simple things/concepts:

1. Plastic bags – A ubiquitous object you’ll see almost anywhere in the world.

2. Smiley iconography – Simple, highly recognizable symbols that appear across civilizations, histories, children’s drawings, and graffiti.

3. L.O.L. and R.O.F.L – A widely understood internet codes/signals that almost anyone online can interpret.

4. Low Orbit Lives – A metaphor in storytelling. “Low orbit lives” refers to characters who live small, constrained lives—close to their immediate surroundings, routines, or problems.

Think of it like this:

• In space, a low orbit stays close to Earth.

• In storytelling, a low orbit life stays close to:

  • Daily struggles

  • Familiar places

  • Personal limitations

These characters don’t have world-changing stakes—they’re grounded in the everyday.

it is powerful in storytelling because

They feel real and relatable because small, simple relatable moments carry deep emotional weight

for example

You see this a lot in character-driven stories:

The Office – everyday workplace routines

The bear – One man ,One restaurant,MANY PROBLEMS ( i think this one is mostly a staffing issues/abt the importance of emotional regulation(or the lack of it) but i digress)

Seinfeld – often described as a “show about nothing,” which is basically another way of saying it focuses on low orbit lives.same apartment , same cafe, same social circles

Downtown Abbey – Okay so I’ve only watched 2 episodes and I dont really know what’s going on yet,so far the titanic has sunketh and Minerva McGonagall is mad about something, but same house, same social circles, it’s kinda like Seinfeld but without the jokes .

On the surface, the stakes are small, but emotionally they’re huge.

5.Materials and process – The series is created using one of the most basic and accessible art materials: paper. Specifically, handmade paper pulp paintings using just plant fibers and stone pigments, applied with a ketchup bottle. Just paper. good ol’ paper!

so basically :

• The Big Toe Series explores light, teaching methodology, self-improvement, and simplification. It makes the complex simple.

• The L.O.L. Series explores material behavior, plant fibers, pigments, and amplification through simplification.

  It makes the simple complex.

Together, these practices—each simple in its own way—combine to create a system more complex than the sum of its individual parts.

The main takeaway:

• Innovation through Iteration and Integration Across Media: Treating my practice as a system allows me to test ideas in small-scale “labs” (miniatures, pulp experiments) before scaling them up, while also seeing materials, concepts, and observations not as separate silos but as interconnected experiments. This iterative and integrated approach sparks unexpected discoveries, new techniques, and novel ways of seeing both the urban and conceptual environments around me.

I also had the pleasure to do a studio visit with the students of UTSC University of Toronto Scarborough Curatorial Perspectives. We made paper together and also talked about artmaking, archives, it was le fun , here’s some gifs I’ll talk more about the visit on the NEXT NEWSLETTER

photos /Video -photo by Brian Akin

Thank u again and again and again for taking the time to read!

Inspo:

Catching the big fish

Tyler the Creator

Ludacris : Stand up

Hopeful Aromantic Podcast

*Toe

**The show was in Barrie

***sometimes they are random

****i’ve been that someone , many times, i’m back at it

*****My toes in the Big Toe