hello
.
The name on Tomie's birth certificate isn't Tomie but good luck finding out what it is. She was born just a few hours too early to be a Halloween baby (something she has regretted deeply her entire life) to a young single mother living in Queens, New York. Her mother, Miri, was a somewhat well known graffiti artist and poet who had embarked (as many artists do) on a whirlwind love affair with a man who wouldn't find out he had a daughter until three years later. Though the scandal of it all caused tension between Miri and her parents, Tomie was still accepted, loved, and spoiled by the maternal side of her family who sent letters and gifts when they could. She grew up moving from place to place, seeing cities only for days or weeks, when Miri began working in photography and was able to take her daughter on new and beautiful adventures. Rather than being disruptive to her life, Tomie enjoyed the push and pull of the constant motion of travel followed by the stillness required to capture a picture.
Over the course of her childhood she was, eventually, able to form a relationship with her father - an installation artist born and raised in Japan to a Japanese father and Zainichi Korean mother. His art was unique and had a huge influence on Tomie growing up. She watched her father manipulate walls and floors into large expanses of visual white noise, allowing distorted sounds and beats to be layered over the top. It was something she carried with her even as her path diverted when she was scouted by a large Korean entertainment company in 2000 and invited to audition. Not expecting much, she attended the auditions and was accepted, to the surprise of herself and her family. Miri had vowed at Tomie's birth to support her in whatever endeavor she found passion in and so she allowed her to move to Seoul and pursue a career as a singer and dancer. Unfortunately it was a short lived dream and she was dropped from the company after only a couple of years, returning with a heavy heart to America where she finished out high school.
Moving in a completely different direction, she attended college for illustration but, in between classes and on the weekend, began to experiment in the world of music production. She started creating short animated videos to fit different pieces of music, some original or sampled or, mostly, songs she enjoyed at the time. College became too stifling an environment and she dropped out, working several odd jobs and making enough money to release an EP online, though it made few waves initially. Undeterred, Tomie worked hard to find a way into the music industry, accepting small dj gigs here and there and making connections.
In 2010 she was invited to attend the Red Bull Music Academy, following this achievement by becoming the first woman signed to Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label. Her first full length album was released later that year. From there it was shows performed to mixed reactions, more music, more remixes, renewed friendships and new ones. She first came to public attention in 2012, not for her music but for her directing credit on the music video for Oblivion by Grimes. Creating music videos was both a whole world away from music itself and yet very familiar to her. A combination of her mother and father's influences helped her create her own styles; shaky and homemade, glitchy and bright, glossy and dark. Like her beats it came from undefined sources to create something new and very much her own.
Every part of her patchwork life finally began to thread itself together in something whole, though still frayed at the edges. She isn't as well known as many of her peers, though she maintains a small but loyal fanbase, and her Wikipedia page contains only a name, an age and the bare bones of a career she is working hard to turn into something long lasting and fruitful.
discography (as toxick)
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albums
2014. desiderum
2013. half shadows
2010. midnight menu
extended plays
2012. boom (with suzi analogue, as toxick analogue)
2011. los angeles 8/10 (with mike gao)
2011. creature dreams
2010. cosmic intoxication
2008. bedtime lullabies
music videos (as tomie moon)
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directing
2015. "ugh!" by walking shadows
2015. "criminals" by epicene
2015. "don't be shy" by primary (feat choa, iron)
2015. "emergency" by icona pop
2015. "over & over" by pppb
2014. "born hater" by epik high
2014. "miss right" by anderson .paak
2014. "ransom" by rich white ladies
2014. "i adore u" by adore delano
2014. "come back home" by 2ne1
2013. "you (ha ha ha)" by laür
2013. "hurricane" by epicene
2013. "what i like" by laür
2013. "attracting flies" by alunageorge
2012. "korean jesus" by dumbfoundead
2012. "oblivion" by grimes
appearances
2015. "bad blood" by ione james ... the crimson curse
2012. "genesis" by grimes ... herself/passenger
→ tomie is pronounced as toh-me-ah and comes from the horror manga of the same name by artist junji ito.
→ is ambidextrous.
→ currently has eight tattoos as of january '16: back of neck, inside of right elbow, right wrist, side of right wrist, behind left ear, left wrist, left middle finger, inside of right ankle.
→ has scars on her nose, upper thighs, and the sole of her left foot.
→ her personality types include scorpio, rabbit, and some others.
