YoaKustoms

Clash of the Customizers Finals Submission

These kicks are inspired by a favorite of many, Chinese takeout. The Takeout Dunks feature a detailed closeup of chicken lo mein on the sides and a fortune cookie pattern on the tongue accented with a custom fortune tongue tags that say “Happiness will bring you good luck” and “You will be hungry later. Get take out!” The back of the shoe is of course the takeout box with an actual handle hanging on the heel. It wouldn’t be takeout without a greasy menu and a Have a Nice Day plastic bag, so I included those elements on the insoles and shoebox. Enjoy!

Behind every great man is a woman, with an ultimate strength. The inspiration for this pair is the Buddhist goddess Arya Tara, the female Buddha. She is known as the “mother of liberation”, and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. Tara is the generic name for this goddess, but there are different representations of her with various meanings. I’ve depicted the White Tara known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel. I’ve painted her in great detail on the outside and inside of the shoes with gold accents. On the outside is her portrait and on the inside is the lower half of her body in a meditative position . Her feet are painted with the third eye in the middle; I used this as the inspiration for the insoles, which have a foot with the third eye as the focus. The tongue is representative of the petals of a lotus flower, each individually cut from leather and sewn, then painted.

YoaKustoms and Sket One have come together to create this exclusive run of custom shoes.  Set to release Friday, October 16, 2009 at 12pm.  10 PAIRS ONLY! Details on the flier below.  Email yoakustoms@gmail.com for inquiries.

The inspiration for my shoes is the Tim Burton film, Edward Scissorhands. What better to do custom-made shoes that represent a custom-made man. The pair features a striking portrait of Edward on the outside, with the scars literally cut into his flesh. The shoes are accented with an added belt buckle in the front and gold grommets in the lace holes to play on his leathery custom-made body. There is a yellow butterfly on the tongue tag, shown in many of the movie posters, which represents his delicate innocence, counter balanced by the feature of the customs, his cracked mirror scissorhands over his face and on the swoosh which are hard and sharp. The insoles and box are covered in plastic grass, which is trimmed to shimmering perfection, just as Edward cuts all the shrubs in the perfectly plastic town that eventually rejects him.

These were done for a customer who wanted something inspired by the ocean.  The waves are almost cradling the swoosh on the outside and crashing down on the inside. The design is finished off with some silhouetted palm trees.

These Bite Me Vans Slip Ons were done for a customer that was into sharks and blood, so I figured why not really get up into the jaws of a great white and really make em’ bloody. Water detail around the heel of the shark shoe.

These were done for a customer who wanted to commemorate his grandfather who played a NYC beat cop in a 1920’s black and white silent film.

These customs were originally made for my sister….we have a little joke about getting RANDY, so I did these up for her.  They feature something a little naughtier for YoaKustoms, but they are….randy.  These were featured at the Halfmeaningless.com Launch Party at Gallery Bar NYC along with some other shoes.  Here are some studio shots as well as the shoes on display and my sis giving her new babies a kiss.

These were  my submissions for Round 2 of Clash of the Customizers…..MAD Hatter inspired.

Here was my artist’s statement:
These are my own personal interpretation of the infamous Mad Hatter.  The Disney image of the Mad Hatter doesn’t even begin to touch on what is really of the heart of Louis Carroll’s dark character.  I see him as a sleazy, conniving P…I…M…P.  So I illustrated him as such with a scheming grin and a card in his hat with a topless “bunny” on it (censored).  He is pictured in front of the rabbit hole which is exploding onto the back of the shoe, out flying a clock, a rabbit, and some playing cards.  The black and white striping of a bulls-eyed rabbit hole brings the psychedelic aspect of the classic tale.  Finally, the inside has a “funky” cup of tea with some more bunny cards.  Also, numbers and some subtle clock hands are jumbled around from the rabbit hole.  The tongue has a fading chess board and a MAD custom tongue tag.

These were done for a Minneapolis resident who wanted the skyline on his kicks.