Meet Virva Peikko of The Katerpillar

Today we’d like to introduce you to Virva Peikko.

Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
Ever since I was a tiny little kid, before knowing anything about life, jobs, responsibility, etc, I knew I wanted to be an artist. There were other things I wanted to be, too, the list constantly changing as I grew up – a Freedom Fighter in the Sonic the Hedgehog Universe, professional explorer (think safari clothes as you hack through the thick undergrowth of the amazon with a machete), veterinarian, writer, scientist – the list goes on and on as passions and interests ebbed and flowed. Still, there was no denying my need to create. Whether I was drawing terrible comics in bed, driving my parents crazy at the zoo or aquarium because I wanted to draw the animals, or painting, or sculpting both things real and imagined, there was no stopping me. Jump-skipping to today, this is still the case.

Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road! Childhood may have been filled with encouraging words to keep on drawing, but adulthood stomped my dreams with phrases like, “You need to be more serious”, or “You need to get real about life and realize you won’t be successful being an artist”. I tried so hard to make my family proud of me and pursue more respectable things by going to school for science. Midway through my Junior year, I realized I hated what I was doing. I was completely miserable! So I hastily switched majors and escaped the University with a Bachelor’s degree in art.

I have struggled since childhood with waves of depression, made so much worse when my father passed away when I was a teenager. It’s so hard to get out of bed, let alone go to school or work, when you’ve convinced yourself you’re incapable of feeling at all. To complicate things further, I would get these short bursts of extreme euphoria and energy, which only made the crashes more devastating. I would be so motivated towards tons of different projects and then lose interest in everything. It wasn’t until this year that I was diagnosed as being bipolar and started getting treatment. Having the tools to manage it is incredible and has vastly improved my quality of life. I’m glad I finally found the courage to seek help for myself, but more years than I would like to admit were swallowed whole by depression.

All of this aside, there are the constant obstacles of working full time for a reputable business with a large client base, having to use a moniker for my artist name because of my career choices, and regular international travel required from work. My heart may be split between two paths, but I couldn’t bear to part from either. If we could add another 12 hours to the day I’d be set.

The Katerpillar – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
“The Katerpillar” is actually made up of two artists: myself and another local Phoenix artist that goes by KiLL! We specialize in making toys! But we also make some big fiberglass sculptures, plush, mini comics and zines. I do 95% of the graphic art and KiLL! comes up with the vast majority of the ideas. We both sculpt and mold, cast and paint figures together. Working with KiLL! keeps me incredibly busy and I don’t stray outside of The Katerpillar very much. Even so, our individual works are released in The Katerpillar’s webstore and we use every opportunity to promote our business.

I can’t speak for KiLL!, but I’m the most proud of our fiberglass sculptures, especially the Murskata Luut and Geobactar. Measuring about 5’ tall, the Luut was made using a body cast of myself, then additionally sculpted on before being fiberglassed. The name is a Finnish misnomer caused by mispronunciation by foreigners, the translation being roughly “crush bones”. Particularly fond of eating people, the Luut grabs her prey with her extremely powerful hands and crushes all of the bones in its body before shoving the pulpy corpse down her throat. You can go visit her at her current location in Tucson at Xpanded Universe gallery on 197 E Toole Ave. Be careful not to get too close or she might crush the bones out of you!

The Geobactar is a fun little beast, about 4’ tall, and is a byproduct of nuclear waste that reacted violently to bacteria decomposing garbage. It’s shaped like a barrel and likes to hide around trash cans so it can feast on garbage, its favorite foods including human vomit and batteries. Geobactar was designed and mostly made by KiLL! (I made the T-rex like hands and did much of the fiberglassing), and so far, features in one mini comic with another in the works. You can visit it at Lulubell Toy Bodega at 126 W Pepper Place in Mesa. If you’re lucky there might be some treats in its mouth.

I think what really sets us apart is the love, dedication, and attention to detail we put into our work. We make what we like and riddle our works with inside jokes, hidden messages and Easter eggs. We’re not afraid to let the monsters out of the closet!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is setting goals and reaching them, finding new goals and accomplishing them, rinse and repeat ad infinitum. Your accomplishments should make you feel happy and proud of yourself, and also make you feel more eager to tackle your next project. The most important part of setting goals is keeping them realistic and working your way up to more challenging ones. For example, let’s say you want to be writer and are just starting out. Saying you’re going to write three hours a day is a lofty goal that will make you feel disappointed when you inevitably can’t do it and you might give up out of frustration. But if you say, “every day I’m going to write at least one paragraph”, a whole world of opportunities are going to open up to you. You can work your way up to writing three hours a day, or you might naturally fall into that habit on your own.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.thekaterpillar.com/
• Email: virvapeikko@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virvapeikko/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheKaterpillar/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/trollpeikko/
• Other: http://kaijux3.storenvy.com/

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