7. 7
Do you think cities burden the individual
or liberate creativity? It seems like
you’ve been inspired to exceptional heights
in Japan, but the figures you draw seem to
be weighed down by history and culture.
I think that depends on how you define
a city - main streets, shops, bars and
restaurants? A downtown and an uptown?
Lots of buildings and government offices,
public spaces and parks? A culture built
on some kind of historic foundation? If
that long list is the frame work for
every city, and every city has it’s
own way according to it’s contemporary
culture, then I think it can be very
inspirational place to pursue art.
With that in mind, I think the city I’m
living in now has really propagated
my creativity and helped sharpen my
observation skills - it’s a different
culture, in a different country and it’s
given me a special opportunity to stop
and look at things with fresh eyes.
Everything holds potential inspiration
- It begs closer inspection, speculation
Sean is currently living and working in Joetsu
city, Niigata prefecture, Japan. His artwork
is influenced by the traditional architecture of
temples, shrines and castles and explores the
relationship between people, symbols, icons,
objects and how they define culture.
8. 8
or further investigation. So, there
is always something to respond to,
celebrate, critique or question. What
interests me the most, is that cities -
wherever they are in the world - have
stories, mythologies and keep very
good secrets. Uncovering these is what
motivates me to keep working.
9. 9
What interests me the most, is that cities wherever
they are in the world have stories, mythologies
and keep very good secrets.{
13. 13
How have digital elements of art, design,
and gaming influenced your practice?
From a very early age I think the digital
world has been massively influential on
my practice, and video games are quite a
large part of that. I remember a lot of
early experiences with Apogee shareware
on the family 486 and being completely
engrossed for hours and hours. I guess as
a result a lot of video game iconography
found itself into my personal works,
things like pixels, swords and skulls;
none of which is terribly unique but I
Soft science is a Melbourne-based illustrator,
artist and designer; making pictures for
magazines, comics, exhibitions, films and for fun.
Soft science graduated in 2010 from Swinburne
University, where it studied a BA in Games and
Interactivity. Since then, it has been working
as a digital designer during the day and
drawing pictures by cover of night. Its drawings
have appeared in Desktop Magazine, ACMI,
Lamington Drive and on Australian INfront.
Soft science has been drawing since its early
larval stage, deep below the earth’s crust. It
emerged in early 2008 and fashioned a protective
pod from its own saliva, which solidifies when
exposed to heat and forms a chitinous outer shell.
It currently awaits the final metamorphic stage
of its relatively short life-cycle. In the meantime
though it is happy drawing, painting, sleeping,
playing video games and wearing shorts with the
socks pulled way up.
14. 14
I often depict characters in conflict, or in
preparation for a conflict to come...{
15. 15
feel pretty attached to those motifs and
I think a lot of people who lived through
the 8-bit era share a similar affection
for that kind of imagery.
A lot of the drawings I’ve produced over
the years have a kind of implied narrative
that seems to be game-like in nature. I
often depict characters in conflict, or in
preparation for a conflict to come; I’ve
noticed a trend of drawing protagonists
poised to attack a much larger monster
or enemy, which I think owes a lot to the
harrowing boss-battles I have witnessed
over years of playing games as a child.
Digital art felt like a very natural
progression for me. I loved computers
and drawing, so it just made sense. I had
access to an old Wacom Digitizer II tablet
when I was about 14 or so and with it I
found I was able to do things that I even
couldn’t dream of doing with coloured
pencils or any media I was familiar with
at the time.
16. 16
As much as I still enjoy and value
working with tradition media, the power
and versatility that come with working
digitally are hard to resist sometimes.
I guess the downside is that you can
easily spend eight hours doing nothing but
adjusting colours to the most infinitesimal
degree and as a result end up missing
your deadlines.
Design became a part of my practice much
later while studying game development at
university. I took an off-course subject
that looked at major 20th century design
movements and more-or-less fell in love
on the spot. Within the early days of
study I began noticing design everywhere;
it sounds a little silly and cliché but
it was seriously eye-opening for me. I
would walk through the city and every sign
or billboard which I usually would have
filtered out as visual noise, became a kind
of aesthetic communication puzzle that I
had to decode. I think it explains why I
love illustration so much as it tends to
combine elements and practices of both art
and design.
23. 23
How have the priorities of Graffiti artists
changed since you started in the 80’s?
I can only say what has changed for me
personally, and really, my priorities
have come full circle and are not
dissimilar to when I started. I don’t
try and make money from graff, I’m here
at the moment to just use my experience,
and really think about it more than
I ever have. The structure of the
lettering is important, not so much the
technique. Living in New York has made
this easier for me, being surrounded
by great writers and being influenced
by their experience and mind state has
helped me. It was good to come here
also and be an unknown and sort of start
again. It has allowed me to reinvent
certain characters within my persona that
come to life through graffiti.
As for the culture of writing, I’ve seen
a lot of changes and priority shifts.
Graffiti in the late nineties was dying
Dmote - a graffiti artist, painter, designer. I
have worked in the design industry as an art
director and illustrator, in fashion mainly, for
over ten years. I live and work in New York City
and am transitioning into a full time career as
a painter. My fine art is my passion and I look
forward to growing old as a painter. I’ve had a
renewed interest in graffiti living in New York
and have been taking it seriously again for the
past few years. For now i’m trying to push it
further than I ever have.
24. 24
out in New York, and the Germans were
taking over with heavily pictorial and
technical pieces based upon these huge
murals, which, for the most part, hid the
letters. This faded out but has now come
back around again, and the world is all
about ‘lettering and history,’ something
which I thought might’ve been lost. We
are now living in the most progressively
exciting time of the art form since it
was established in the mid eighties.
Your career illustrates the huge
transformation of public opinion of
Graffiti - has ‘the dream’ of many graffiti
artists enabled creative freedom or
filtered it?
Graff has definitely become more
commercial in some ways; but then, it has
also become more illegal and hardcore.
The dudes that are on writers teams and
are given paints are helping the culture
a lot. I mean, when you have endless
materials, and don’t need to be precious
or worry about bad decisions, it makes
for the best work. These dudes are
generally at the top of their game also,
so it helps inspire young artists while
also profiting the paint companies. The
only advice I have to up-and-comers is
don’t expect to make money of this.
I can understand someone trying to get
into skateboarding to make money, but
graff? No!
29. 29
How has your practice changed after
moving from Athens to Sydney?
Well in Athens everything is much more
‘free’ when it comes to painting in the
street. There are literally endless
spots – especially abandoned places.
The police don’t bother to drag you to
the local station because they have more
serious problems to deal with, and I
guess it’s too much paperwork for them.
For that reason you feel the freedom of
painting in daylight and in even in more
central spots, and most of the time get
away with it.
Now Sydney on the other hand is not a
typical European city where the building
structures factor hugely when creating
something in the street. Everything here
is well organised, and don’t even mention
the police officers. My illegal activities
have been reduced to a minimum, and
whenever I do paint, I always visit the
spot beforehand to scope it out, and have
my concepts down on paper.
I’m EROS NIKA, an urban artist from Greece,
raised in Athens. I moved to Sydney in late
2010. I started with traditional graffiti in 2001
and since then I can’t think of anything more
enjoyable than painting with friends or alone,
in the streets or for exhibitions, with brushes or
using spraycans, I love all these things. As you’ll
notice I have a big obssesion using the color
blue. I think my work reflects my personality
somehow and that’s why I love using blue
because its very calm color like myself.
30. 30
Is there a difference in the general
population’s approach to street art in
Athens as opposed to Sydney?
I have good feedback from both cities so
far. The difference here in Sydney is
that you can’t paint without permission.
Even if strangers talk to you there’s
always someone asking if what you’re
doing is legal. Working on the Outpost
Project was a great experience for me
though, I had a lot of people passing by
and talking to me which was enjoyable.
In Athens you have countless places
to paint, and you catch many peoples’
reactions in the streets. You might
be painting an alleyway and come
across some people, and they won’t
even bother talking to you or calling
the police cause they are keen with
this image nowadays.
35. 35
Your paintings really have a style of
their own, from famished female zombies
to beautifully intricate portraits of
girls - what has influenced your style
throughout your career?
As far as artistic influences go, probably
the ones that resonate for me most are
art nouveau, ukiyo-e, pop surrealism,
graphic novels, street art, and tattoo
art. I studied graphic design for a while
so I soft spot for clever design as well.
Old medical texts and illustrations,
various mythologies, scientific theory,
popular culture. It’s hard to pin down
everything that has an influence - it all
does really.
Your paintings of beautiful but grotesque
women are often motivated by emotion -
what is it exactly that you aim to
explore through your work?
I was introduced to the concept of art as
a tool for psychological diagnosis when
I was 7 years old. Even then I loved the
idea that the things you create can hold
Named one of the most exciting female graphic
artists in the world by Curvy magazine in 2010,
Sydney-based artist Rebecca Murphy creates
works that have been described as a little
romantic, floral and syrupy but also a bit gory,
bloody and creeped out. Preferring to work in
acrylics and archival ink on canvas, wood, and
paper, her influences vary from Art Nouveau
and Ukiyo-e woodblock prints to Pop Surrealism.
36. 36
deeper truths than you can consciously
express. My aim is to tell stories,
to create an emotional resonance with
the viewer.
Has living and working out of your studio
in Sydney had an effect on your art
and style?
I’ve been here for about 5 years now,
which is the longest I’ve ever stayed in
one place and slightly longer than my
art career. Living and working in the
same space allows me to spend as much
time as possible in the studio, which
is something I take full advantage of -
I’m in there anywhere between 12 to 16
hours most days. And that definitely has
an effect - it lets me explore, refine,
experiment, and take on projects that
would otherwise be impossible. I wouldn’t
have it any other way.
I was introduced to the concept of art as a tool for
psychological diagnosis when I was 7 years old.{
43. 43
Sketchbooks are very personal documents,
when you release these to the public what
goes through your head?
I like the idea of showing all the rough
starts of ideas and experimentation that
is the basis for all my art. My effort to
make my sketchbooks available is a call
to other people to do the same. I love
looking at other peoples sketch books and
studios. I hope they inspire people to
draw. I’d like to think that they help
break down the idea that artists are
elite and art is hard to create or enjoy.
From my murals, drawings, sculpture and
anything in between, it all starts in my
sketch book.
ghostpatrol: artist and world builder.
53. 53
We’ve been appreciating your painterly
work for a few years now, can you tell
us the story behind these clumsy and
delicate characters?
There is a long winded story behind the
message behind my work. That message/
story has become irrelevant lately, but
leaving that behind has allowed me to
focus on smaller observations that now
only loosely relate to my obsession with
the dis-evolution of the human species.
In saying that though, if I had not
focused on that aspect for so long I
would not have though of the intentional
use of clumsy mark making would work like
it has. The focus on aesthetic has become
a pain, recently I’ve found that being
ignorant to a single message has helped
my work evolve further and allowed me
to have more fun and play with multiple
ideas and different mediums. I do find
myself illustrating my small minded
twisted point of view, and I’ve been told
my work seems to be a series of self
portraits, and I can’t help but agree.
Post-Graffiti Pop Surrealist, Jon Drypnz is a
New Zealand based paint mover. Since 2005 he
has been creating murals and bits of vandalism
which imitate experiences, and the people who
surround him. The output is characters called
Drypppls. They try and explain and expand the
notion that, ‘the human race is in a state of dis-
evolution, revealing exaggerated aspects of the
human condition and our common traits.’ There
is no reason for any of this to exist.
54. 54
How important is keeping up work in the
street after finding such successes in the
studio and gallery side of your practice?
I just do what I want when I want. I
consider myself a selfish artist so when I
feel like doing work on the street I find
a wall and do it. Other times the studio
helps my urge, but my work is erratic
a lot of the time and so my process and
placement of my work is as well. I don’t
really have a formula so each time I
paint, whether its on the street or in
the studio, its a little bit different.
To actually answer your question though,
I find it important to continue to do work
on the street, but the reason being is to
keep my sanity. I say its just for myself
but I enjoy doing street work because
like a lot of other people its a place to
work out ideas or frustration quickly.
For the most part, the work I do has
subliminal meaning, but when I paint on
the street the work often has some social
commentary and reaction to current events
that I wouldn’t spend time working with
in the studio, making it an important
part of how I deal with my seemingly
‘helpless’ position in this world.
61. 61
I’m Vexta, I’m a neon painter, street artist and
fine artist. Right now I’m a bit of a vagabond -
travelling between cities, embarking on creative
adventures. Partly I think I’m addicted to art,
haha, It’s a necessary part of life. I’m interested in
art that pushes forward into the new. I guess as an
artist you take whatever it is you have around you
to construct this thing that’s important but perhaps
can’t be expressed in language. My paintings
examine these intangible aspects of our lives such
as dreams and transient states; the world around
us and our place in it.
How would you describe your artistic
practice?
I paint pictures in the street, on canvas,
on paper, on walls, on old pieces of
wood and bones, lately I’ve also been
making fluro tube light sculptures and
experimental sound pieces. Specifically,
I like to pull apart figurative work and
construct symbolism in abstraction.
64. 64
Can you describe the significance of
stencils in your work?
(Are they irreplaceable?)
Stencils aren’t irreplaceable in my work
at all – in fact in my latest body of
work I hardly use them at all – I seem to
be moving more and more into straight up
painting. Though I like the clean lines
and the flatness of the paint you get when
you use stencils and I also like the
imperfection, the over and under spray.
I consider them another type of brush
really. I definitely use them more on the
street and less on canvas.
69. 69
How do you approach your commercial
photography practice differently to your
personal creative projects?
I have dabbled in social, portrait and
fashion photography. Over the last few
years I have also exhibited in various
group shows, the latest being Joy
Collectives exhibition: ‘Me Next Please’.
I enjoy working for clients and to
briefs, but I definitely prefer the
freedom of just shooting whenever and
whatever.
I am a 19 year old Sydney-sider and I love
getting candid photos of daily life. I always have
a camera (or two) on me and enjoy searching
for unexpected and intriguing moments to
shoot. The thing that I find interesting is that a
photo captures a single instant and might not
reveal what just happened a second before or
afterwards. I think it’s important to keep a bit of
mystery in my photos, to keep people guessing.
77. 77
Your beautiful paste ups of figures and
animals have a lot character about them that
tells their viewers a lot of thought, love
and time went into each of them. How do you
go about creating work for the street as
opposed to the studio and do you create site
specific works, or put them up wherever you
see a spot that catches your eye?
For the most part my street work has been
a simpler version of my studio work, but
recently I have been working on bridging
that gap and spending more time on my
paste ups, whether it be cutting intricate
patterns, or illustrating and colouring by
hand. The work I do on the street is a gift
to the city and the local community and
I & The Others grew up on a farm in NSW in the
eighties and spent the best part of her childhood
entertaining herself with her colouring box,
butcher’s paper, string, mud, stones, feathers and
whatever else could be found.
Still making use of found materials, she now
lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Her
creative practice is an eclectic meld of visual art,
illustration, street art and graphic design.
I & The Others’ studio work is reflective of her
attitude towards her environment. Making use of
found materials necessitates her personal desire
to not consume more than is necessary and her
creative desire to transform something old into
something new while adding her own personal
story or sentiment to the object.
78. 78
although there is always a chance of the
work only lasting a day or two I like to
think if I spend time creating something
beautiful it will last and be appreciated.
I always intend to create site specific
works - my phone is full of photos of
walls and doors! But more often than not I
end up finding spots on the night when I go
out pasting - especially for the smaller
works. The larger ones require a bit more
thought and I will usually have a spot in
mind for those before I head out.
This year you co-initiated a new project
called ‘Street Advent’ involving a variety
of Street artists from Australia and
abroad to participate in a Street Art
based Advent Calendar - preparing works to
be displayed on a blog, counting down the
days of Christmas. What inspired you to
take this curatorial role and how did you
think it all went?
My mate Matt and I were having a beer one
night when the idea for Street Advent
just kind of came to us. We’d both curated
group shows before and we wanted to do
something new and different, something
that would excite the artists. We had
been talking about ideas for a show and
the concept of a street art based “advent
calendar” evolved from there, it was
actually all very last minute and thrown
together!
81. 81
Curating a show without a gallery and
with very few limitations was fun and
it was great to have involvement from
artists in Europe and the States as well
as all around Australia. We were a bit
skeptical of all 25 artists meeting their
deadlines (each artist had to put their
work out on the street on a different day)
but everyone was really committed and
it actually ran like clockwork. It was
received with a lot of enthusiasm from
artists as well as the general public and
we plan make it an annual event.
What projects are you currently working on
and what can we expect from you this year?
The next project for me is a large piece
in a laneway in Brunswick. A group of
artists are giving the laneway a bit of
a makeover and I’ve been allocated a
little nook to “re-decorate”. After that
I’d like to dedicate some time to studio
work and start working on a solo show. I
am planning to spend the winter in the
northern hemisphere. I have my fingers
crossed for a residency in Florida and
then hope to paste my way around North
America but a solo show here in Melbourne
is definitely on the cards for the end
of the year, as well as Street Advent
in December. I’m sure there will be a
scattering of group shows to participate
in throughout the year too.
83. 83
Are your motivations for creating work
on the street the same for the gallery?
Definitely not. My street work is a
product of exploration and use of free
exhibition space; motivated by my drive
to communicate with the public; and
free from restraints, bot conceptually
and aesthetically. I am interested in
the changing canvas of the street and
its pressures.
In regard to my work intended for
galleries, it’s a very different process,
I work in a controlled and precise
environment, motivated by the judgement
of the institution and the art world at
large.
The street for me is a base of exploration
and direct response, and the studio a
place to polish-up these ideas and images
into something more direct.
I am SKULK. I illustrate, screenprint and paint.
I have an art studio in Marrickville at ‘Sashimi
Studios’, but work on the street also. I have
a very natural drive, to create, to engage, to
explore. I believe I will never stop.
84. 84
Your work often depicts obscure characters
and people, what has influenced you to work
in this style?
I enjoying working with the figure, and
this has been my focus for the past 3
years. This stems from my fascination with
people, and the creatures that we are.
My style has emerged quite informally over
time, influenced by other artists, friends,
places, ideas and dreams. Artists such as
BLU have had a profound impact on my work,
both on and off the street.
The street is a base of exploration and
direct response...{
89. 89
Every street is an adventure and every road becomes
a trip / Every turn we take and every decision we
don’t make, Even the decision we don’t make, will
bring us into the secrets of their town / Every
corner we turn will lead us, every corner we turn
will lead us down the labyrinths, And every desire
that we earn will guide us alive, living, loving &
searching.
- Refused are Fucking Dead
The “streets” exist as a passage-way
and thoroughfare to our destinations,
in this respect they are a vein to our
desires. They ferry us towards common
ideologies and in this sense they express
a happening or spectacle. For within
the movement of the self comes forth an
intention, within that intention all is
gained or lost.
We journey through the physical
landscape. Its effects on the self grow
and form ideas over time; these ideas
become a spirit of self and leave marks
on the greater environment. Our feet
leave prints. Those prints exist as
I’m Birdhat, I produce public based art and
installation assemblages. Where I make and
leave my work varies. I use Street Art as a base
for self expression. Therefore it is something that
can be executed anywhere. A big part of my
rationale is self -expression in the same sense as
the cave painters of yesteryear (a primal sense
of desire - a ‘need’) and also as a response to
society and modern day living. I see street art as
social critique.
90. 90
memory and as history. That mark, whether
it continues to exist for a month or a
lifetime becomes something organic. It
is perceived, eaten and becomes entwined
with the public. For it is owned by the
public.
Graffiti is a movement formed from the
streets imbedded in the history of hip
hop and street culture, and acts as
visual attack and sabotage. ‘Hip hop
culture developed its own DIY outlaw art
aesthetic that was particularised by
graffiti art. These elaborate, cartoonish
psychedelic paintings created with
(frequently shop-lifted) spray cans
were affixed to any unoccupied public
“canvas,” primarily subway trains,
commercial buildings, and the walls of
large apartment complexes.’ That was and
continues to be the “forum” as it acts as
social advertising and free interchange
of ideas. It is and has always been public
forum for it exists within public domain.
Street expression is a contemporary idea
founded in ancient ideology. We have
painted on cave walls for thousands of
years. It’s only now that a culture
becomes a sub-culture. The spirit of self
expression is seen everywhere, in the
clothes we wear the way we talk and act
and in our core desires. Graffiti artists
project this expression onto the physical
environment. Creating a “spectacle” a
‘ever-increasing mass of image-objects
and co-modified experience detached from
every aspect of life, fused in a common
stream in which the unity of this life
can no longer be re-established’. There
91. 91
is only one course of action.
Graffiti art exists as a reflection on
urban street life and generally acts as
a threat to modern day consumption. Guy
Debord (December 28, 1931 - November 30,
1994) Author of Society of the Spectacle
defines Recuperation as ‘the process by
which the spectacle intercepts socially
and politically radical ideas and images,
commodifies them, and safely incorporates
them back within mainstream society..
It is the opposite of détournement, in
which conventional ideas and images are
co-modified with radical intentions’ . It
co-exists as social advertising with the
marketable as a tool and symbol like a
hammer or a Molotov cocktail. You gotta
watch that.
“Sabotage will set us free
Throw a rock in the machine”
-Refused
1.Ken Goffman. Counter Culture Through The Ages.
from Abraham to Acid House (U.S.A 2004).
2. Richard Gombin. Analysis of Consumerism (1971).
3. Robert Chasse, Bruce Elwell, Jonathon Horelick,
Tony Verlaan. Faces of Recuperation in Situationist
International #1 (New York, June 1969).
95. 95
Your characters have a very distinctive
feel to them, often adorning walls and
fences, what is the story behind your
characters and what has influenced your
style?
My characters have grown a lot in the
last few years, coming into my own
style was hard at first but eventually
I found it, but not really sure how! I
feel it’s a mix of ‘80s and early ‘90s
cartoons, comics, skateboard art, cult
movies, weird tales and the messed up
world around us, turned into my own weird
fantasies. My characters are often evil
but also cute, characterizing the good
and evil in all things.
Bathcat is an emerging street artist from
Wollongong, studying Fine Arts at COFA. His
art is influenced by the nature of mankind and
all his surroundings. His styles range from
expressive painting to folk art with spraypaint,
acrylic and oil paint. Bathcat’s drawings are
raw and crude with no pencil used...straight
pen. He likes the risk of not being able to change
the mistake, “I’m’ just forced to go with it. I
don’t take much time to think about what I’m
drawing, I just let it happen. I draw whatever
I’m thinking about right there and then; this
is what makes my work raw, but it also has a
playful feel.”
96. 96
Having work both on the street and in
the gallery allows for some flexibility
in the context your work is received,
do you approach your street work
differently to your studio/gallery work?
My studio and street work are similar
in the ways I use spraypaint and style
but other than that they are very
different. My studio work allows me to
go deeper into my ideas and produce
work with no boundaries, often being
obscene and crude. My studio is a
bubble where I can be wild and free
turning into a type of creative animal
where I use mixed media to create my
works from acrylic paint, spraypaints,
oils, inks and anything laying around
at hand. Where as on the street I use
only spraypaint maybe sometimes a
brush. With my street work I dont want
to offend people so much that they look
away, but I still want to be true to
myself so I make my characters more
mischeivious than violent and crude.
Art or Die and Be Extra Good.
...mix of ‘80s and early ‘90s cartoons, comics,
skateboard art, cult movies, weird tales and
the messed up world around us...{
103. 103
You recently curated one of the first
purely live art gallery shows in Sydney
called ‘Painting Grounds’ consisting
of about a dozen local artists. What
was it like getting everyone together
collaborating and what was the result?
Painting grounds was a project I had
been wanting to do for a long time now.
Working with other street artists to
get a mad exhibition together and also
utilise the space I had at Tortuga
Studios in St Peters to have a big live
art event for the opening night which
consisted of around 12 artists.
It was really great working and
collaborating with everyone! Most of the
people who I was working with in the
exhibition were friends who I have worked
on past projects with and a few who I had
not worked with before.
I was surprised with peoples response to
the event and how many people wanted to
see more like that going on in Sydney.
Andros is an illustrator/street artist from
Sydney who is inspired by street art/vinyl toys
and things out of the norm. He draws from his
imagination and dabbles in doing collaborations
with artists worldwide and has been artmaking
for around three years now.
106. 106
After such a successes with ‘Painting
Grounds’ what have you got planned next
for Sydney and what are your goals
for 2012?
I would love to plan “Painting Grounds
2” this year and make it a huge event,
even bigger than the last, hopefully
getting more up-and-coming street
artists involved.
Also I would like to work on some more
exhibitions doing live art and having
collaborative work displayed. Getting
overseas artists involved too is
important as it exposes Sydney to what
is going on overseas and it would be
nice to see something new and unique.
Also would like to get more merch such
as shirts and prints out this year
and do some more travelling around
Australia and possibly overseas.
I was surprised with peoples response to the event
and how many people wanted to see more like that
going on in Sydney
{
109. 109
Having completed your fair share of
live art walls in Sydney, what are you
thoughts on this side of your art and
how do you approach it compared to your
studio and street work?
Live art really changed the way I looked
at my practice in a lot of ways. I spent
a year working as an artist full time
filling my days with various commission
projects and putting together a solo
show all on my own in my little studio.
By the end of the year I felt a little
isolated, and the time I spent on each
work was getting more and more drawn
out. One day I was asked to curate
part of a group show and decided to do
a large-scale live work with a friend
of mine to fill one of the empty rooms
during the opening. At the end of the
night I was drunk, happy and had a bunch
of conversations with good friends, and
I had also managed to create one of the
largest works I have ever done, and in an
amazingly short amount of time compared
to my studio work.
I am OX, I’m principally composed from the
remains of a burnt out dwarf star and a 1.25 ltr
bottle of Jack Daniels. I fell to earth some time
during the dark ages. At first revered as the
horned god of storms and hangovers by ancient
Nords, I quickly fell into obscurity following the
invention of more believable deities. I have made
art in various forms since I can remember. I
studied film and animation then later moved
on to illustration, sculpture and more recently
large-scale live and street art.
112. 112
Live work taught me the value of speed
and scale and really snapped me out of
the habit of umming and ahhing for hours
over the specifics of a work. I took
all the lessons I learned doing live
art back to my studio work and focused
on speed and simplicity in my work,
creating bold yet ambiguous statements
that can be translated to a large scale
and visa versa. It was really the live
work that pushed me more towards street
work in the end. I had grown impatient
with painting, so spray-paint was really
the only path for me.
Your illustration and paintings have
a unique and bold style often using
recurring motifs of skulls and Vikings,
what influences your selection of
characters and themes?
Repetition of imagery is important to
me in a couple of different ways: it
can help establish one’s identity as
an artist; more importantly, you get
to know the lines you are making more
intimately; and, if you are doing it
right, the hidden meanings you infuse
your imagery with will leak through to
the audience more effectively.
115. 115
I use skulls in my work a lot, and I must
admit that I do them mostly because they
are rad: I like to both draw and look at
them. A deeper take on it might be that
I feel they best represent ‘humanity,’
I don’t really associate them with
‘death’ them as a lot of people might.
I see the skull as a great leveller
– everyone has a skull, man, woman,
black, white, fat, skinny, rich or poor
– everyone has basically the same skull.
So when I portray a skull it is kind of
a portrait of humanity.
So, while the skull is ‘everyone,’
the Viking is the part of me that
feels we are still all very basic,
and despite our modern advancement we
are still brutish animals with no real
understanding of good and evil. I also
reference a lot of ancient religious
connotations within this frame, trying
to get at the point that believing in
Zeus and fucking Odin and shit is just
a preposterous as any modern religious
belief; that condemning others for their
beliefs (whether scientific or religious)
comes from a place of uncertainty; that
maybe we should all just be happy with
the knowledge that we are ignorant
animals composed of meat and bone and
ought to stop giving each other such a
fucking hard time.
It was really the live work that pushed me
more towards street work in the end.{
117. 117
Why do you choose to work in the street
when there are outlets to exhibit your
work legally in galleries, where people
are likely to buy it?
The freedom. With what I do, how I do
it, where I do it. It’s all up to me, it
lets me make work that might be specific
to that spot or work that might be much
different to what I usually do. I like
being able to put ‘art’ where people
don’t expect to see it. To show people
who aren’t really interested in art in
the first place. You can sort of detach
yourself from the work, rather than it
being a painting by an artist shown in
an exhibition, it’s an image by who
knows from anywhere. I vary my reasons
a lot, between livening up walls,
spreading my own personal propaganda or
just to interfere with what people see.
What is your work about?
Nothing in particular. I let other
people decide that. I’m really
interested in symbols and what they
mean to people, both traditional and
contemporary, ranging from religious
symbolism to more contemporary cliches
and pop culture. When you put all these
similar icons together, they clash and
rather than having a definite meaning you
create a foundation for people to come
up with their own meanings.
I am Terrible Horrible or TER HOR. I paint. I
try to paint a lot. I work wherever I happen to
be at the time.
121. 121
What has influenced your style?
My style has changed quite significantly
over the last few years, so I have had
varying influences. However, in the
last year or so in terms of style and
influence, I have been mainly interested
in oldschool public styles as well as
more Euro stuff and have seen my own work
head in a different direction. Another
factor that has influenced my style is
the actual production of my work, I have
found my newer pieces more enjoyable to
paint which is all that matters at the
end of the day.
I became interested in graffiti at the end of 2007
and sketched/pieced irregularly with different
words until the start of 2009 when I got my
current word, and began to put more effort into
my work, trying to develop a style that I enjoy.
I think I keep painting not just because its fun,
but because I really enjoy the exploring aspect
of it, and looking around abandoned buildings
and spaces and taking photos of the adventures.
Even though a lot of people say this, I honestly
don’t think I see myself quitting anytime
soon, not just because I love it but because i’m
constantly confronted with pieces and tags
everywhere around me and after seeing one piece
feel like I would just be sucked back in haha.
125. 125
Often your photography depicts an absence
of interactivity, whether that be by not
showing your subjects faces, shooting
abandoned buildings, or shooting subjects
at a distance, creating a barrier between
yourself as the photographer and the
people and places you capture. What
attracts you to this style of photography
and what message do you intend these
photos to evoke ?
I think what attracts me to this style
of photography is purely on a basis
of that my photos are snapshots of
everyday moments, however they are
presented in a way that people usually
don’t see them in, making them appear
dramatic and leaving people with a sense
of curiosity. I take these photos to
share my own personal experiences of
travelling around Sydney, as well as the
exciting moments i’ve experienced whilst
trespassing prohibited buildings/rail
corridors, leaving people to interpret my
photographs however they wish.
I’m Jake Antoun, i’m 18, and I just graduated
from school. I take photos that range from
everday life moments to photos of inside
abandoned buildings, providing me with a story
to tell through photographs.
128. 128
As a young photographer, gaining
experience and clearly developing your
own style, who or what would you say have
influenced you to get to this point with
your practice today?
I picked up a camera two years ago not
knowing anything about photography,
but have since learnt that it involves
patience and luck (being in the right
place at the right time). A major
influence for me has been following local
and international photographers online
blogs as well as working with other local
Sydney photographers such as raptorblood
and pseudoze and gaining an insight as to
how they work with a camera.
131. 131
How has living and working out of New
Zealand has influenced the way you work?
Like a third of Kiwi’s, I’m not
originally from New Zealand. I grew
up in Holland, which is alright, but
New Zealand kicks ass when it comes to
flora and fauna, and the landscape is
so diverse too. This has definitely had
an influence on some of the themes and
characters in my murals.
Because there’s hardly any people here,
and it’s such a young country, I see a
lot of opportunity to be the best you can
be at a lot of things, rather then just
the one. I love painting in the street,
but that’s how my friends and I like
to hang out on a sunny/windy/drizzly
Wellington day. It doesn’t define me as
an artist, but it sure makes me work
hard trying to keep up with the likes
of Drypnz, Editor, Cast, Ghostie, Pntr,
Blok, and Malarky. However, I also follow
character designers like Nico Marlet and
Harald Sieperman, and some of the other
work I do, and want to do more of would
be more along those lines.
Hey I’m YELZ, I’m an Illustrator residing I
Wellington, I stick funny little characters on
lamp posts and paint murals on walls with
whatever I can afford too... sometimes they look
alright. I do this because I need too, and I think
painting on the street is a great way to go about
making some dodgy friends.
132. 132
I studied illustration, but if you’d
told me my first paid art gig was going
to be an art teacher, teaching graff
to little hoodrats and taggers around
Wellington, I would have laughed in your
face. But last year I did get hired by a
youth organization, I think they hired
me cause I can’t tag very well, because
that’s all the kids used to do in our
workshops. Painting a mural from sketch
to finish took over 10 weeks of planning
for the first one, it was a big step for
Wellington’s City Council to believe that
11-17 year old kids could pump out a 40
metre mural with spray cans.
We’ve now done over three large scale
murals, the latest one in Christchurch,
some of the kids had never been on a
plane before, let alone been to the South
Island so that was really a highlight for
them, as well as painting of course...
Street art is received with gusto in
Wellington, it’s the creative capital,
and the council are supportive.{
135. 135
What motivates you to produce art for
the street, and how is it received
in Wellington?
The street motivates me to paint, and
my friends motivate me to paint faster,
better, bigger and higher, and with
steez. But I haven’t got any clear
specifics down yet on my style. No one
way to paint, or how to paint, which can
sometimes be frustrating, and also very
challenging and exciting.
I had a really experimental year last
year, and I really enjoyed playing around
with roller paint, squirt bottles and
shit like that, though I’m getting to
realise my stuff is a bit too graphic to
be entirely rollie-polie.
Street art is received with gusto in
Wellington, it’s the creative capital,
and the council are supportive. But we
paint well and with love, and there’s
a lot of different styles within our
collective (Pirates) so there’s something
for everyone. I think painting a lot
of roller pieces help, people are
less likely to hit you up whilst your
painting, and by the time you bust out
the can to flick through your outlines its
too late. Nice.
139. 139
I once read that patients heal faster with a view
of natural scenery. So, I thought I’d bring some
nature to the city - and hopefully some truth and
beauty as well.
When I visualise a landscape ... the scene
appears jagged and imperfect. My focus is
drawn to points of detail that describe the scene:
vines, leaves, trunks, etc. These points of detail
converge in my minds eye to give a complete
description of the scene. The whole as the sum of
its parts. This is my experience of the world with
my eyes closed. When my eyes are open they
dart around visual space, and my mind sews
together a scene from all the points of detail.
I try to replicate this process on paper. By
focusing my camera on small details and then
joining the printed images together, I build a
description of the larger scene. The ‘arrow of
time’ is distorted, as no two points of the scene
could possibly have been recorded at the same
time. I like to leave the white border around the
photos so that when the works are seen in the
street, the voyeur can see that the whole is the
sum of its parts. I believe that this method forces
the viewer to use their imagination to make
sense of the image which consequently creates a
movement and life-force in the piece.
What is the concept and process behind
your installed landscape imagery?
Amongst other things, the general concept
of my installed landscapes, is to provide
a vehicle of escape for the punters in
140. 140
the city; to replace the urban landscape
with a natural landscape in order to a)
provide some relief for the souls of the
city b) to jog minds into thinking what
might have been there a hundred years
ago. I begin the process by meditating.
From this I will have a good idea of what
I want to shoot. I then proceed to find
the location that ticks all the boxes.
When I’m there I meditate once more and
begin to visualise the final composition
(what to include, what to exclude, how
tall and wide I’d like it etc). When
I feel zen, I begin shooting. Upon
completion I pack my things and thank
the universe for providing. From here I
choose the exposures that I would like
to use and print and order them, ready
to head out. Before head out I like to
meditate to cool my nerves. When i finish
pasting I blow a kiss and clean up the
street around it. That’s my process. Take
only pictures, leave only foot prints.
Take only pictures, leave only foot prints.
{
145. 145
Your artwork is full of fine detail,
patterns and symbols, what has influenced
this style and refined way of working?
I’d definitely have to say my biggest
influence is my obsession with anatomy
- the construction and deconstruction
of the human body. I like to relate my
work to this idea through my obsessive
detailing and patterning. The cells and
molecules of the human body are so tiny
yet they construct something so large
and multifunctional. In an abstract way
this is what I aim to express through my
work: that through my tiny details
something larger, more complex and multi-
layered is constructed and created.
YMT is a Sydney based contemporary artist,
who works in a variety of mediums, ranging
from drawing, collage, glass, mural work,
textiles and mixed media. Her work displays a
balance between design, pattern making and
her obsessive detailing with the structures, and
formation of human anatomy.
“My art has become an expression of raw
human emotion, influenced by my surroundings
and my experiences in life. My drawings not
only reference anatomy but appropriate many
symbols, patterns and themes that reflect
the abundance of cross cultural influences in
Australia today.”
148. 148
I have always explored the idea of
anatomy because it relates to my personal
experiences having grown up with complex
medical problems since birth. It has
become a normal part of life for me -
becoming familiar with medical terms,
body functions and illnesses. A lot of
my work incorporates the designs of cells
and bacteria as they would look when
viewed under a microscope. The design of
these is quite beautiful and unless you
knew about it, it would just look like an
aesthetic design or pattern.
My work is always heavily influenced by
the diversity of cultures that surround
us in Australia, having been raised in
Sydney, surrounded by many cultures.
These cultures have definitely leaked into
my work subconciously. I take inspiration
from indian henna tattoo designs, the
vibrancy of their culture - where
everything is ornamented and heavily
patterned. Other influences include: asian
silk designs, african tribal masks,
the mexican day of the dead festivalo,
batik printing, indigenous art with its
beautifully patterned quality and my own
Greek heritage.
151. 151
Judie So (also known as WOLVES&OWLS)
creates colour and monochromatic images
which showcase a vast collection of intricate
detailing. Through a delicate blending of
mediums, ranging from hand-drawn illustration
to elements of graffiti, her work engages
curiosity and nostalgia.
Your role as Art Director at &Dimes, a
production company that hosts popular
club nights in Sydney has allowed you
to bring live art into the Sydney club
scene, what kind of artists do you look
for when looking for live art production
teams and what do you think it brings to
the night?
The kind of artists I look for vary
depending on the type of event. I
generally search for local and emerging
artists in Sydney that not only create
images that are visually appealing to
myself, but for the demographic that they
will be creating their art for.
Practicing live art in a club environment
may expand creativity, inspire people who
are interested in the creative arts.
152. 152
Do you believe ‘live art’ has become an
art genre in itself, essentially being
art for entertainment?
Sure. Whether for entertainment or not, I
believe it has turned into a subculture
that encourages creative individuals
learn to produce larger murals of
their sketches and see how it’ll all
come together whilst being watched by
audiences documenting their work.
Has your involvement in curation, working
alongside many of Sydney’s top artists
influenced your own art, design and style?
Definitely. It has strongly opened up
my perspective on the whole world
of curation and organising live art
events. Working with different clients,
each artist coming from vast creative
backgrounds, has made me aware of what
they can create with their minds, which
influences my art practice.
157. 157
THANKYOU
Big ups to all those involved in the
production and distrobution of this
second issue of Knock knock Magazine.
A special mention must go to Ali Groves,
Fletcher at Invurt, all the Tortuga
Studio’s kids, and of course the
brilliant and talented artists featured
within these pages.
Looking forward to bringing you an all
new mag-amazing issue in the next few
months, stay tuned on the facebook page.
Peas out,
Tom Groves
