TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
PANTAINANAS: A genderless art label
Indonesian artist-photographer Debbie Tea’s work through her PANTAINANAS brand has garnered her plenty of admirers and customers ever since she moved to Bali a few years ago to set up her brand.
Change Size
Colorful: Debbie Tea's playful symbolism hops between joyful and sarcastic. (Instagram.com/pantainanas)
M
onochromatic and with the right touch of playful-symbolism that hops between joyful and sarcastic, artist-photographer Debbie Tea’s pieces ease comfortably into the various merchandise she sells them on: greeting cards, bags, phone cases, air fresheners, patches, shirts, prints and more.
Even as its creator admits that PANTAINANAS is a commercial (if creative) endeavor that was an extension of her true passion for photography, the illustrations settle in a manner that is catchy without being intrusive.
Debbie describes the moniker (which translates as “pineapple beach” combined as one word) as a “genderless art label” which works to “combine a love of graphic prints with clean lines and simple patterns.”
Debbie says that she tries to make the illustrations look “effortless.”
“I think this effortless feeling is something that makes my work ‘easy’ and pleasant to see. I mean, it doesn’t give off an intimidating feeling. I always like the playful-interactive approach.”
The name itself represents her land-of-the-gods surroundings and its tropical heaven nuance.
“I was talking on the phone to one of my besties about starting this art project, and I said to him I wanted a simple name that would remind people of the beach, of summer feelings, and of Bali,” she explains.
It only makes sense. Debbie feels like her move to Bali from Jakarta has inspired and benefitted her creative output.
“I’m thankful that I made the move to Bali as I feel PANTAINANAS won’t ever exist if I didn’t,” she looks back. “I think I truly needed that alone time in Bali — far from my family and all the pressure in Jakarta, to think clearly and to give myself some space, as well as a new perspective to live and continue working in a completely new environment.”
She also hypothesizes that creative businesses such as hers tend to find a more-encouraging, less-competitive environment in Bali. She feels that there is more pressure to stay with whatever current trends may be brewing.
“Everyone can do whatever they believe in, in their own style,” she says.
“For me, living in Bali gave me that much of confidence and self-worth. And on top of that, most of people I’ve met, appreciated what I was doing and my artwork. I’d say this is a very important foundation of my brand and myself as the creator.”
Debbie began drawing as a child, somewhat holding onto a dream of becoming an illustrator or manga artist. After studying 2D animation after graduating from high school and discovering photography (particularly lomography) in the process, Debbie moved to the Netherlands to studio Fine Arts Photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.
From there, she dove deep into photography. She was selected as one of the New Dutch Photography Talents in 2013 and took part in a variety of photography exhibition with her photos being features in prestigious publications like WERK x COMME des GARÇONS and Eloquence Magazine. One of her photos, “Sputnik Sweetheart,” won her the Asia Creative Award by ACN Japan in 2015.
Debbie sees some similarities between her photography and the art she produces for PANTAINANAS, even as she admits to the brand serving her more commercial sensibilities. “If I’m honest, I think I’m at my most self when I do photography. I consider my photo works to be transparent and honest, at least to myself,” she says.
Of the similarities, Debbie says that “visually speaking, most of them don’t have much details, colors and depth; a lot of them are rather flat and minimal. The idea or the content can be quite abstract as well. They both reflect me as a person and my daily life situations. Unless I must, I don’t usually work on a thing that is unfamiliar to me or something I feel ‘far’ from.”
PANTAINANAS came as a result of reality hitting Debbie. Coming back from the Netherlands, Debbie says that reality “hit her pretty hard,” making her feel like she would eventually hit a “dead end” as a photographer if she continued down that path. Her family also started pressuring her to make something that they felt was more worthwhile, meaning something that actually made money.
“I started to kind of despise ‘the act of making an artwork’ and the idea of me being an artist. To put it simply, I felt like I couldn’t make a living being an artist and I decided to do something else,” she says, adding that the shock of having to abandon photography was another big push for the move to Bali.
Debbie began by uploading her illustrations to the photo-sharing social media app, Instagram. Like a lot of other Instagram success stories, the feedback came organically and by large numbers.
“Things took off pretty fast. I got more Likes and Followers, then finally ‘real demands’ came in. People emailed and messaged me, asking if I was up for commission work or if I was going to produce merchandise.”
For Debbie, PANTAINANAS has become her new home, shifting the satisfaction she used to get from photography with another – the pleasures of seeing people using things with her drawings on them.
“To me, this is ‘it’ — this is where all the fun is. To see that my creations are literally used and worn by people, truly gives me this proud and joyful feelings; that I can actually be useful to others and that my works are more than just ‘eye-pleasers’. Obviously, it also gives me a significant boost in terms of income. All of these things have pretty much convinced me that I’m on the right track.”
