Jomike Tejido’s ‘Manifesto of Play’ Taps into the Inner Child

Esteemed artist Jomike Tejido debuted his new art exhibit The Manifesto of Play at Galerie Stephanie on Tuesday, March 12. Alongside the new exhibit of paintings is the release of a new coffee table book of the same name. 

Tejido’s new exhibit plays around with form and shapes. He creates a complicated collage of different images that represents the childlike wonder that exists in all of us. It represents his ideals about tapping into the inner child and delighting in the process of creation. 

“The entire ‘Manifesto of Play’ talks about how you can tap into your subconscious childlike state and just enjoy the process of drawing and making things,” he said. “Because everyone is a natural creative on the inside, and as we grow up, we tend to lose that because we have to grow up, we have to do our responsibilities.”

Past Architect, Current Artist

The exhibit and book center around themes that Tejido experienced as a former architect and an artist today. His swerve from architecture into artistry is one where his desire for creation pushed him away from being an architect. 

“I felt that I’m more attuned to creative work. Like, from the start of the day to the end of the day, I wanted things to be all about creating things with my hands and inventing things. Whereas I found that architecture dealt with a lot of managerial things that the creative side only took up the first maybe 30% of a full project life,” he said. 

Shifting from architecture to artistry has allowed him the freedom to focus on the creative aspects of art. And yet, the influence of being an architect can still be seen in his work. It can be seen in his geometric preciseness as well as the usage of technical architectural drawings in his work.

“When I’m doing my work now, I feel the sense of freedom that I can do anything, as well as mix in those little technical elements of grids and drawing, like, trusses and support beams and cantilevers,” he said.

The Manifesto of Play

The Manifesto of Play tackles the topic of creativity with aplomb. It condenses his twenty years of experience into points about letting your inner child out in the process of creation. The exhibit also showcases this, merging childlike wonder and imagination with Tejido’s architectural eye for shapes and precision. 

One of the interesting things he does in this direction is remaking two childhood paintings in his current style. He challenged his process with adapting his more abstract childhood style. He allowed himself to play around with his form whilst utilizing the shapes and methods that he learned since. 

“When I found [the paintings recently in our architectural home office, I just took them and then said, ‘just for fun, I would insert these two in my exhibition,’” Tejido said. “But in order to make it fit, I would have to recreate them in 3×4 feet and put them in my style. While looking at them, I tried to recreate them in what I do now and make some sort of update, and luckily it worked out and they look like they’re part of the show.”

Architect Rules to Storytelling 

Tejido is also a well-known storybook artist, working with local and international publishers to bring children’s books to life. He developed a dynamic digital style around 2010 that he’s used ever since. His work is inspired by mid-century modern design and the Space Race era. 

“When I’m doing my work now, I try to think about how those forces come into play. When I do my work I try to balance off heavy things with light things, lines and solids, and then dark colors and light colors.”

Much of his style tries to create a calming mood through a “balance of form, color, and texture.” His past as an architect still informs the work he creates today. His architectural background informs his philosophy still, for example, even in his use of abstraction in his work.

“I think part of it came from my draftsmanship years in college wherein we were made to draw tiles, we were made to draw bridge trusses, and I think one of the very memorable things also was when I was doing site development plans. We were actually doing symbolisms for trees, symbolisms for grass, and we were very, very much told not to draw the trees, not to draw the grass very realistically. And for me, it was very hindering because I could draw them but I could not, I could just draw them in symbols,” he said. 

Jomike Tejido Wants You To Play With Form

Tejido believes that people of every trade and profession can and should reconnect with enjoying the craft in creation. He believes that letting one’s inner child out can help professionals innovate best in the future. The exhibit showcases the end product of the process, while the book discusses further about why the process works.

“It’s that childlike state of, like, lying down on the floor, drawing with crayons and just drawing anything you want, not being afraid of what people might say,” he said. 

A person of any profession can find usefulness in Tejido’s philosophy of tapping the inner child to create without apprehensions.

Jomike Tejido’s The Manifesto of Play will be exhibited in Galerie Stephanie until April 2.

Related reading: A manifesto for architecture education in the 21st century