To Artist Ton Mak, Whimsy and Weirdness Are the Point

If you’ve ever peeked into Woot Bear, the designer toy bastion and art gallery on San Francisco’s Haight Street — where Labubus, tokidoki, and (checks notes) Blonks abound by the shelfload — then you may have seen it: a Banana Boo, with its bright little eyes peeking out from underneath a cutesy, dog-headed balaclava. 

The miniature toy — whose glossy, blobby shape loosely resembles a banana — stands about 6 inches tall, and was created by Ton Mak, better known by her pseudonym, Flabjacks. The diminutive figurine packs a whimsical charm and has become one of the hottest vinyl collectibles in the Bay.

Banana Boos are released in themed packs like Nice Cream Boo, Warm Fuzzies, and Magical Natural, and a rare one can retail over $100. Zealous and devoted collectors can snag a Pop Mart MEGA 1000% Flabjacks Banana Boo x SmileyWorld for no less than $1,099.99 (sorry, rare toy chasers, but it’s currently sold out).

For Mak, who lives in San Francisco, the “Fantastic Galactic”-ness of it all unfolds in the unexpected wrinkles of being an everyday artist. That is, there’s no grand plan or scheme for all of her designs; she doesn’t plan for any of it. Her ideas simply just arrive, at whatever time and in whatever shape (or fruit, or snack) they may.

“The thing that ties it all together, the central spirit, is brightness and lightness.”

“I grew up in England, and every Wednesday we ate flapjacks, which is like an oat cake,” Mak tells COYOTE during a Zoom call from inside her home studio. “I really liked flapjacks. I made up the word [by inverting the ‘p’ into a ‘b’] and started calling myself that… Everything I’m drawn to has to be kind of quirky and weird.”

That carefree, almost childlike wonder forms the crux of her work as a toy designer, illustrator, and painter. Unlike the shitty society we’ve inhabited of late, all of Mak’s art — toys, colored pencil drawings, canvas paintings, and full-on collaborations with global brands like Puma and Swatch — burst with optimism, eccentricity, and playfulness. 

“The thing that ties it all together, the central spirit, is brightness and lightness,” she confirms.

On bringing ‘DREAM LIFE’ to life

Beginning on July 11, Bay Area audiences can experience that levity IRL; a collection of Mak’s never-before-seen paintings and illustrations will be on display in her solo exhibition, “DREAM LIFE,” at Empire Seven Studios in San Jose’s Japantown. 

Over the past decade, Japantown has quietly cultivated itself into one the Bay’s coolest underground hubs. It’s now teeming with intergenerational artistry, streetwear purveyors like Cold Water and Cukui, and Asian restaurants and cafes. For Mak — who was born in Hong Kong and has lived in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Shanghai before moving to San Francisco six years ago — her recent discovery of the South Bay micro-neighborhood made her feel right at home.

She stumbled onto Empire Seven Studios by pure chance earlier this summer, while visiting Japantown for the first time. “It was awesome. I didn’t realize it’s so close to some of the best mochi I’ve had in a long time,” Mak recounts. 

After Mak chatted casually with gallery curator Juan Carlos Araujo, the plans for her solo exhibition came together in just under a few weeks — a rarity for Mak, who often globe-trots to showcase her art around North America, Europe, and Asia with expositions that are sometimes planned years in advance. But Araujo's small San Jose gallery quickly won her over as a home for work she’s been longing to show off.

“I’ve been wanting to showcase some big canvas pieces. In 2024, I was three weeks from giving birth to my youngest child, and I had a show in Beijing, but the gallery had to close super abruptly. I was taken aback. Everything was about to be shipped out [but the show was called off],” she reflects. “I was like, ‘oh no, I’ve spent years making work for the show, but I have to give birth.’ And then postpartum came. [“DREAM LIFE”] is a great opportunity to unearth those pieces and what they meant to me.”

The Empire Seven Studio gallery show, which runs until August 16, will consist of five large oil paintings on canvas, 21 colored pencil on paper posters, and one limited-edition “Snoozy Doozy” Banana Boo toy release. A mixture of monsters (albeit, adorable ones) and otherworldly creatures make up the bulk of the subject matter, which is inspired by the tenderness of raising two toddler boys amid the ebbs and demands of motherhood. One look at a piece like “Cuddle Puffs” captures it all: a pair of large and small “puffs” embrace as an orange glow in the center emanates with a maternal warmth.

“Toddlers are wild creatures, and I felt like a bit of a monster, too,” says Mak.

Motherhood as a creative process

In recent years, Mak has transitioned from having an off-site art studio to working from home as a live-in artist and mom. The rhythms and priorities have shifted, at times, but her passion has sharpened as a result.

“Motherhood has inspired me with a completely new thought process with how I think about my work,” she says. “Any time I’m in the studio is time away from my children, and I have to consider what value it actually brings me. It gives me a greater sense of purpose, that my kids can see the creative process and I can bring them in.”

In a place like San Francisco — which has the lowest child population of any major city in the United States and has historically low birth rates, in large part due to the unlivable cost of housing and living — it’s inspiring to see Mak creatively thriving and growing through, and not despite, her parenting. The proof? As of this writing, the factotum artist is planning a collaborative toy release with 52 Toys in August and juggling an upcoming show at The STAN Museum in South Korea, all while handling daily meals and splitting other household responsibilities in her not-so-free free time. As E-40 might say, she’s a boss tycoon.

She partially credits MOTHER, an online parenting publication and event organizer, for providing a sense of community and connection for her in San Francisco. With her fellow moms, she has visited museums and art galleries in town and bonded over their attempts to be creative in their own ways. For Mak, motherhood has provided a sense of urgency: A reason to seize creative moments differently and perhaps more wholeheartedly.

“As a parent, you have a whole new series of seasons and holidays,” Mak says. “I work seasonally now. Summer is a long holiday [for the kids], so I’ll produce a lot less. But that’s the beauty of it. Some seasons are go-times, and others you just can’t create as much, or anything.”

Lately, she’s been doodling simple phrases like “yes you can” and “big picture” on poster-sized paper with iridescent colored pencils. Banana Boo makes cameos, of course. Next, she’ll be dropping her first-ever series of blind box Banana Boo plushies.

When engaging with Mak’s artwork as a consumer, you can feel a depth of gratitude and freedom in whatever she creates.

Regardless of format or setting, Mak remains awash in whimsy and daydreams. She didn’t go to school for art and never trained rigorously to become an artist. It’s merely a way of life for her, and she’s prevailing. During our Zoom call, she recalled moments from her teenage era when she first began to sketch odd, inexplicable things — crediting her mother for allowing her to explore an array of vast, unorthodox interests at a young age. Grades in school were never an emphasis in her home; instead, she was encouraged to explore and find a style that naturally suited her. 

“It feels more pronounced, how much joy [making art] brings me, and how important it is to me,” she declares. “The creative process is addictive.”

When engaging with Mak’s artwork as a consumer, you can feel a depth of gratitude and freedom in whatever she creates. It’s medicinal, genuine, necessary. And it’s constantly evolving, just like she is.

Flabjacks’ DREAM LIFE will be showing at Empire Seven Studios (525 N 7th St Ste 10, San Jose) from Saturday, July 11 to Sunday, Aug. 16, with an opening reception on July 11 from 2 to 6pm. The exhibition opening will feature a limited-edition toy release by How2Work and coffee treats provided by Tono Coffee Project.