Born in the late 1970s in the South American county of Argentina; Matias Paluch was first inspired to create through teenage exposure to punk rock, and the album covers of UK band Iron Maiden. Going on in his 20s to create his own art and associated brand, and store, under the name Kalaka.
In his 30s, Matias turned his many talents and lifelong love for toys into a new career as a designer toy maker. Getting some of his first international exposure thanks to a friendship, and multiple collaborations with Greg Mishka of Mishka NYC brand fame.

Matias’ Shogun Warlord soft vinyl figure – which debuted in 2017.

Now in his 40s, Matias’ creations can be found in the collections of fans worldwide; along with celebrities such as Matt Groening and Dave Grohl. Who have fallen in love with Matias’ work, that mixes insightful nods to pop culture, with punk rock, a DIY attitude, and the culture of his home country Argentina.

Wanting to get to know the man, we asked Matias to outline his life and creative journey.
Check it out, below…

Name and date of birth?

Matias Paluch A.K.A KALAKA.
August 19, 1977.

City, state, and country you currently call home?
City, state, and country you are from?

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Various Kalaka brand t’s.

Please describe some memories – such as art, music, friendships, adventures, study, romance, politics, religion, work, crime… anything really – from the stages of your life noted below:

* Your childhood:

I remember my childhood under my grandmother’s upbringing, in a middle-class neighbourhood.
I remember receiving my first Star Wars and MOTU figures for Christmas or birthdays.
I remember watching cartoons at noon.
I remember that I didn’t like school.

Some graffiti by Matias.

* Your teenage years:

In my adolescence I started listening to punk in the 7th grade of primary school. I remember that a classmate gave me a cassette of The Ramones ‘Pleasant Dreams’ LP – that same classmate had an older brother who drew incredibly, and he brought me illustrations of the album covers of Iron Maiden. Tried to copy them, I was good at drawing but didn’t reach the quality of his brother’s illusions.
Then I started skateboarding, and spent my days skating, listening to hardcore punk and drawing.

I had my first work experiences where I didn’t last a lot and that’s where my self-management began to be born. Around 19 (or before that) I was selling vintage toys in a park where collectors gathered.

A Bart Simpson prison style tattoo gun, created by Matias.

* Your 20s:

In my 20s, I continued with skateboarding, hc punk, and selling toys.

At 23 (2001) I decided to go live in L.A. There I discovered kustom art, and I noticed that there was a fusion between toys and art.
I frequented many galleries of art, but the one that caught me the most was La Luz de Jesus, that was a fundamental stage in my inspiration to make art, I felt that I could be part of that, in L.A.
I only lived 6 months and then I returned to my country with so many ideas.

Upon returning I became couple and partner with Laura. After a few years in 2005 we opened our store, Kalaka in a very popular underground gallery in Buenos Aires. At first we only sold objects and toys that I had intervened, and t-shirts made with aerosol and stencil.
At this stage where I didn’t use or didn’t exist IG, I was subscribed to the Juxtapoz magazine. That magazine filled me with good data.

Photos from inside Matias’ legendary Kalaka store in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Showing various wares along with some Kalaka brand merch.

* Your 30s:

In my 30s I became father of a beautiful girl named Dana, we continued with the business and I got more and more into the world of art.

Around 35 I started making my first toys in resin, and went very well with that. I had references like Sucklord who inspired me.

Two Sucklord inspired resin figures by Matias.

At about 37 I met Greg Mishka on IG and we became friends. He invited me to exhibit my toys in his legendary store in Brooklyn. At that show I also met Kozik, was unreal for me, it seemed like a dream.
That was the kick-off to a lot of great things that happened later.
I think I owe a large part of my recognition to Greg, he was the one who made me debut in the first leagues.

* Your 40s so far:

By my 40s my name was already firmly established in the toy making scene. I had already edited a lot of figures and travelled for the first time to participate in the DesignerCon in L.A. So I was back in L.A. 20 years after having lived there but this time with more weight in the Kalaka brand.
I launched in Dcon (circa 2017) my first vinyl figure made entirely in Argentina, Shogun Warlord and had a collaboration with Skinner – he painted some exclusives.
That convention was crazy, I met a lot of artists that I admired and to my surprise, they already knew me! We had a huge booth shared with Mishka.

Then I came back again the following year with a bunch of Bart’s Bootlegs made by me, I was obsessed with that topic and something incredible even happened and that was that Matt Groening approached our booth, and he was very kind to me to the point of taking one of my pieces for his collection.

Matt Groening signing a figure from Matias’ Barts Bootleg series of resin toys.

I don’t remember if it was that year or the next that I also travelled for another edition of Dcon. On that same trip I returned to the previously mentioned art gallery La Luz De Jesus, but this time in an active role putting on my own show with Tom Neely, the cartoonist famous for the comic “Henry and Glenn Forever and Ever”.
We put together a collaboration based on his comic.

The Henry and Glenn: Forever and Ever resin toys; produced by Matias in collaboration with Henry and Glenn creator Tom Neely.

Another important moment in my 40s was meeting the Foo fighters, who invited me to their show because they followed my work. They were very kind. I was with them on backstage, they invited me to see the show from the stage and they took several figures of mine.

Matias with musician Dave Grohl and one of his Shogun Warlord soft vinyl figures.

This path of toys took me to unimaginable places and experiences, I feel a lot of gratitude.
Simultaneously with my trips to conventions, I dedicated myself to setting up art exhibitions and themed toys in Buenos Aires, bringing together dozens of local artists promoting the toy maker movement in these lands.

I also had a great opportunity to be able to make a vinyl toy called “Beastie kid” in collaboration with Mishka and produced by Medicom Toy in Japan.
That figure was released in a virtual event and literally sold out in less than 10 minutes.

The Beastie Kid soft vinyl figure – Designed by Matias and Greg Mishka; and released by Japanese company Medicom Toy.

Currently I am still producing toys and I am working on a very interesting documentary about a Ninja Turtles Bootleg figure produced in the 90s in Argentina which cardboard art is rumoured to have been made by a prisoner while serving his sentence.

A promo image for the an upcoming documentary Matias is working on, about Argentinian bootleg Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys.

Links

All images supplied by Matias or sourced online.