I started painting them at the end of the day as a way to decompress. I liked the idea of taking a penguin and dropping him into human society without warning. Bewildered, a little out of place, trying to figure out how to function. The paintings are snapshots of that.

You know that feeling when you’re doing something totally ordinary and you suddenly see yourself from the outside and think huh, why am I doing this? What is any of this? What is life? Just me?

That’s Henri.

I grew up in Montréal as a first generation Filipino and now I live in Finland. I’ve spent most of my life feeling both part of something and slightly outside of it at the same time.

Growing up, home and school were two different worlds. At home it was Filipino culture in Tagalog and English, at school it was Quebec culture and in French. I remember getting shamed by school staff for eating my pâté chinois at lunchtime with a spoon and fork instead of a fork and knife. Appearance wise, one day I was Mexican, the other I’m Chinese, I still get that to this day, haha. My name confused people even more. Even visiting family in the Philippines I felt like a foreigner. This time I looked like everyone else. That was about as far as it went. I don’t carry it with me, it just is what it is :)

They’ve been my favourite animal since I was a child. I spent an embarrassing amount of time playing MapleStory in the early 2000s and always had a penguin companion.

Orders ship from my studio in Helsinki, Finland. Finland and EU orders ship via Posti. All other international orders ship via UPS. Please note UPS does not deliver to P.O. Box addresses.

Customs duties or import fees may apply upon delivery and are the responsibility of the buyer. Cards and stickers ship via standard post and are unlikely to incur additional fees.

Ordering Henri products alongside other Studio Luzano items? Send me an email at hello@studioluzano.com before placing your order and I’ll combine your shipment.