His face is familiar to those who frequent local artist conventions. After all, his distinct style is difficult to miss in a crowd. However, few observers know that Ahmad Sufian Mazilan (also known as @SufBansen on Instagram) is not a trained artist.
Initially, it was his friends who encouraged him to display his work in art booths. These days he shares the same table with some of the most prominent figures in Malaysia’s street art, toy and character design scene.
He is also the co-host of a vlog, a voice actor, and a generally all-around fun guy.
How did you discover your passion for the arts?
“I studied Animation and Visual Effects at Multimedia University, Cyberjaya. Currently, I’m working as a visual effects artist at a video game company, and I also do voice acting on the side.
“I guess my main passion would be art in general, since I’m interested in all sorts of things related to it. I’m also the type to quickly get bored doing the same thing every day. So that’s why I try out all sorts of stuff besides visual effects, such as visual art and voice acting.
“Recently I’ve been trying to get into toy designing as well. So, yeah, I guess visual art is one of the things that piqued my interest, and I decided to try it out.”
Tell me about one of your latest creations, Buttman.
“Yeah, I’ve always had a fascination with butts and thought they were funny. So I would draw butts for fun [and] to humour myself.
“After studying 3D animation, I tried doing these butts in 3D because I thought it would be funny to render something silly and simple into a cool 3D artwork.
“My friend, legendary comic artist Michael Chuah, said that these butts I drew could make a good mascot and that I should continue to develop it. I got hyped up, designed a body for the butt and Buttman was created!”
How did you get into podcasting?
“My buddy, voice actor Azman Zulkiply, has this super cool studio called Nois Space in Cyberjaya. He wanted to do some fresh and fun content with the place, so he invited me to co-host with him on this vlog, Nois Stof!
“Every week we have a brand new episode where we talk about anything interesting. We welcome people from the creative industry – like Andrea Goh from Pixar – on the show to talk about their experiences. We aim to educate our audience while also being entertaining. It is pretty random and fun!”
What would be your dream work project?
“My dream project would be to collaborate with big brands such as the Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo. I’m a huge Uniqlo fan and it would be super cool to do a Buttman X Uniqlo sort of thing. Like what they’ve been doing with manga, anime, video games and Disney intellectual properties recently.
“I would also love to create a full fledged Buttman video game and a full blown animated series on Netflix.”
Would you encourage other youths to take up visual effects?
“Definitely! If it’s what they’re truly interested in then go for it. Whether it is voice acting, visual arts, or visual effects.
“I have fun doing what I’m doing, but of course there are times when it can be stressful and challenging.
“It is a part of the process. If it’s not your passion, then it’s better not to do it. Do what you want to do!”
