HIS images subtly drape over bits and pieces of the cityscape, on makeshift fences and on walls—images of conspicuous characters defi ned by mismatched eyes and sharp hair fringes, who more often are engaged in the outrageous and discomforting. It’s hard to miss them, with over 20 of them splattered across the streets; then on the side of each is his signature, his moniker, Soika.
Soika stands for Soi Kalinaw—Soi is his nickname and Kalinaw is the Cebuano translation of his last name. The artist prefers to be called just that, withholding his true identity not for the fear of notoriety, but for the dread of restriction it might impose on his work. Anonymity, he said, affords him his freedom, the very factor that got him into street art in the first place. “Para nako, ang street art ang tinuod nga malayang sining,” he says fervently. No rules, no expectations and no discrimination.
He got into street art in 2008—he was still a painting student back then—when he tagged along behind a neighbor of his who is part of a local group of artists. He started with just scribbles of his name, painting all over the place, and at the same time asking them if what he was doing was okay. “They told me it was,” Soika shares in Cebuano, “that there are no rules, and that we can do whatever we want. Politics sometimes exists within the group but in general, nobody tells you that you shouldn’t sell out, or that you should always be ‘underground.’ You can even put installations. That’s when I fell in love with street art.”
Although not apparent at first glance, Soika describes his works as mostly socio-political in nature, current issues depicted in animated visuals, their rawness masked in bright, vibrant colors. “I like discomforting images expressed into cartoons,” he says.
"That way, the irony is still present, and irony is what I'm aiming for." Soika shares it usually takes him two hours to finish a mural, like the one he did along Archbishop Reyes Ave. This was his biggest work to date, and it had him painting under a scorching mid-afternoon sun. "I don't mind," he says. "I also want to be immune to the heat so I can adapt to it." While his creative trysts on the streets naturally attract the interest of onlookers, working on canvas gives him a more tranquil, meditative experience-an activity the young artist also looks forward to. Soika has done a couple of exhibits with his art groups 2B09 Collective and Wawart, and is on the brink of forming another group that highlights lowbrow art. "My work in street art and on canvas are different," Soika explains. "My characters are still there on canvas, but sometimes it includes images of popular people. It has bits of reality."
Making something out of a blank space-the exhilaration was enough to keep him going, Soika admits. Yet in retrospect, he wishes people get something out of it somehow, that as they go about the hustle of everyday, his street art-blatant as it is-can make them stop and take a look, go beyond stereotypes and grasp the messages concealed behind it.