Luka was born in France, but by the time she turned 14 she had moved to Singapore along with her family. That’s when Asia became her home. This is also where - many years later - she met Phanganist’s other performer friend Fine, with whom she came on holiday together to Koh Phangan for the first time 8 and a half years ago.
‘I was Studying Chinese/Mandarin in Singapore and It was my last holiday before returning to Europe to start working. Fine and I wanted a chill holiday together and we were more of the Eden Party types, so we stayed over there and that was my first experience of Koh Phangan.
I really liked it there but I had plans to work in Paris, so I didn’t really foresee myself living here yet. It was just an awesome holiday with a really cool crowd’.
That was it for Luka until a couple of years ago when a good friend of hers found out about some land available here on the island so they decided to partner up and start their ‘Burning man spirited retirement project’ earlier than expected.
‘If you look at Asia and what we're trying to do then Thailand is a very good compromise. It’s a country that is used to dealing with foreigners so there are tourism laws around how to proceed whereas in other countries such as Burma or Cambodia, doing what we want to do here would be more complicated.
I feel Koh Phangan is a bit like the Ibiza of Asia, the hippy party place, where the whole Full Moon culture started, and even though it has been going on for more than 30 years, the island is still not too developed, it is still slow paced, it’s kept it’s life simple .
Coming from Singapore, which is such a fast paced city, I was really looking forward to slowing down and taking the time to appreciate the little things.
Singapore could be defined or summed up as a cocktail of New York’s cultural melting pot and Dubai’s building obsession, add up some asian spices, shake it and Tadaaa!!!! you got Singapore’.
So you’re still working on this project but what can you tell us?
What we’re trying to build is a sort of sustainable community Art Lab. A place where a broad spectrum of Arts are taught, practiced and performed, from manual trades (painting, sewing, leather crafts, woodwork, etc) to all sorts of ‘flow Arts’ (circus, acrobatics, parkour, yoga etc…).
In the long term we want to move towards clean energies and grow our own food, but that’s much later on our timeline.
We are looking at starting the official business in next year’s first trimester, and work step by step from there. Right now we are still at a very early stage, the house is the ‘skeleton’ of the project that has yet to be entirely set up. There’s so much to do it’s scary in a very exciting way!
Once it’s up and working the goal is to have people come and be inspired by what they experience here, so they can take some of that inspiration back home to pursue their own projects.
What are your specialities when it comes to performance?
What I’m best at is definitely poi! I started off as a dancer, mostly belly dancing, hip hop and breakdance when I was a Singapore teen. The naughty kind that works in a club with a fake ID! Flow arts came much later, around 2006 when I was still studying in Paris.
When you work in a performing troupe, you have to know a bit of everything to help make that show awesome, so I do a bit of hoops, a bit of fans, staff etc… I’m not at all amazing at most of these but I make it work the best I can! The exciting thing with flow arts is that the learning process never ends!
Movement Arts for me is a psyche thing, the practice is therapeutical and the gigs pay well (in some countries), so it’s definitely a way of life.
But I’m a jack of all trades and trying my best not to end up master of none so I’m trying to get as good as I can at all the things I do.
I worked full time as a makeup artist in the fashion industry for a few years, but I could never see myself do it indefinitely, even though I’ve had the great honour to work on Pat Mcgrath's team that ‘tours’ the fashion week every season in New York, Milan and Paris. It’s just not my crowd.
So about 4 years ago I decided that I’d keep doing the Fashion Shows - ‘cause these are fun- but that I was going to focus on learning tattoo, what I’d been dreaming of for years.
The first couple of years were tough as I had to learn by myself on the road as I travelled, but after that I moved back to Singapore where I found a shop with a really talented crew that took me in to expand my learning.
So now you are a professional tattooist?
Yes tattooing is now my ‘day job’. In Singapore I was working at Galaxy Tattoo 2, but kept travelling to Europe for fashion shows and tattooing to financially fuel our current project. It has been A LOT of travelling around the world!
As it is in any trade, I Tattoo what people pay me to, but what I like doing is dot art mandalas. I like mixing up organic elements, geometrical shapes and dot work.
Because I have studied special effects - to a creepy degree of interest in the internal body mechanism - and worked as a makeup artist, drawing on the body, skin and its features is kind of obvious to me, working and complimenting a living 3D canvas. But again,
like all arts there’s always plenty of room for improvement and skill building.
Tell us about some performances you’ve done here…
So far I’ve worked on a couple of gigs for Jungle Experience, one in May and one this month. I really like the spaces here and how they use the jungle, like a rave in the tropical nowhere.
I like the setup so far at the big parties, it’s nicely integrated into the jungle with different areas to explore throughout the night.
Has Koh Phangan changed since you were last here?
My referral place in Koh Phangan is Eden, because that’s where I went 8 years ago. I went earlier this year and thought it didn’t change a bit!
I am sure a lot has changed on the island in the past 8 years, but when you grow up in Singapore you don’t see change as other people do.
Singapore changes constantly, new streets, new shopping malls, new housing areas, it never stops. I have spent almost 9 of the past 16 years there and yes, new things pop out of the ground like mushrooms overnight, but that’s just how Singapore works. So in that sense, despite all the landscape transformation, I don’t think it has changed, because it has just been doing what it does best, it’s been growing!
I haven’t been here long at all, but what I feel so far is that Koh Phangan has been staying the same, it develops but it’s pace doesn’t change, it hasn’t sped up much. it’s ‘same same but different’.
If tomorrow there was lots of luxury resorts and theme parks popping out islandwide then i would call that change!
What are your plans whilst you’re here?
I can’t wait to learn Thai ! I have learnt Chinese so I know how difficult learning a different ‘alphabet’ is, but it is also very exciting. To me, learning a new language is passionating because I find it allows you to understand different cultures in depth, the hidden meaning of words and the path of thought people use to express themselves. I really like to know where languages comes from, Thai is so beautiful, the writing and the sounds of it really intrigues me.
I want to start tattooing again obviously, and that is a priority, my fingers are so itchy!
I also need to learn more about treating wood and building furnitures as the last time I did woodwork was when I was a kid with my Grandpa, so waaaay back! I’ve been here living on the floor for a month now I am dreaming of a table to eat my meals at!
I need to start sewing and produce a new stock, I have been on the road for a long time and sold out all I had made. I really like upcycling, working with vintage stuff, handmade lace from the 1920’s, fabrics from the 60’s, etc… random things I’ve collected my whole life at garage sales and seamstresses’ fairs. Therefore when I make a piece, each bit of it has a story and it gives the finished object a unique ‘soul’. I like to see people pick their piece and tell them more about their new acquisition, it creates a bond, like meeting someone with a story to tell.
I make stuff like I want them to be for myself: durable, soulful, and ergonomic. Custom stuff that you can wear everyday for years, makes your life easier on the go, clothes that you can transform into many different pieces.
Last but not least I want to start teaching through workshops once our space is ready. I’ve learned so many trades it’s about time I share!
And leave us with your life philosophy?
Learn, improvise, trigger
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