SIMPLE SIX
1. Besides art & music what else drives you?
Public transport? The fear of my work becoming stagnant and obsolete drives me. I don’t ever want to wake up one morning to discover I’ve become complacent with what I’m producing; so the constant desire for change keeps me on the move.
2. Favourite character from the Muppets?
Wasn’t sure if this one was classified as a muppet, but google tells me it’s a green light, so Oscar the grouches pet worm Slimey.
3. Window or isle?
Window, definitely.
4. 3 favourite colours to use?
Whichever ones complement each other.
5. First thing on your mind most mornings?
Note to self: cancel that ebay alarm!!!
6. Favourite artist to collaborate with?
Anyone who’s on the same wavelength as me.
DOWN to BUSINESS
• What style of art do you create & where did it start for you?
Pop/street/stencil art, but I’m always trying to explore new genres with my work. Art was always something I was good at throughout school and it was something that I remained interested in into adulthood, but I never took it seriously until 2007, then in late 2008 I got introduced to someone who introduced me to Ben Frost and in turn I spent a lot of time hanging out at Worlds End studios, over in Surry Hills. After being in a creative environment like that, with such a diverse range of amazing artists around me, it was a natural progression for me to start taking my own work more seriously, it also gave me the skills and knowledge to take my art in the direction I wanted it to go…basically for my style to mature.
• Who was your main inspiration at the start?
Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol both inspired me considerably at the start, but as I got older it became more a case of what was inspiring me, as opposed to whom. I can distinctly recall how amazed I would be catching the train up to Sydney and seeing all the graffiti along the train lines, so that fascination and love of street art was sort of ingrained in my subconscious from day one.
• What are you trying to say or create with your art?
I’m creating a mirror, I want people to look at my work and see the things that are happening in society that most people are turning a blind eye to. Corruption, drugs, prostitution, the Brady bunch families that behind closed doors are full of abuse and debauchery. I want people to view my work and walk away questioning everything they see around them. Because at the end of the day, nothing is as it seems….it’s all smoke and mirrors.
• Where have you taken your art or had it put up?
I’ve been considerably lucky with the opportunities I’ve been given at this early stage in my career. I contributed some work for an installation at last years Splendour in the grass festival and was then invited to show at the opening of the Absolut Stairwell Gallery at Sugarmill, in Kings Cross. Shortly after an opportunity arose for me to have the first solo showing of my work at The Elk nightclub, also in Kings Cross. After that I was commissioned to do a three wall mural in the main bar of the Oxford Hotel, on Sydney’s iconic Oxford Street, which was such an amazing experience, and a great opportunity for me to work outside my comfort zone. The most recent work I’ve displayed was a piece I was asked to contribute for the Semi Permanent show, mixed business, which was a blessing for me, being able to have my work alongside so many artists I respect and admire.
• How have you used your art to change your lifestyle?
Hmmm I think due to the style of art I do, you have no choice in it changing your lifestyle, there’s a distinct culture associated with the street/urban art movement and it’s hard not to get caught up in it.
• How does the community benefit from your art?
It doesn’t, the individual benefits from my art. I’m not out to make everyone happy, and my work certainly isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if someone see’s my work and makes a connection with it, then I’m happy.
• With the boom of urban art & the many classifications such as street art, graffiti, bombers. . How do you view these styles & what would you like to say about them?
I love street art, but it’s a tough one…people who aren’t directly involved in it, don’t see its value, or the difficulty involved in creating it, so in turn they brush it off as vandalism and on the other hand you have people who aren’t involved in it enough to know the rules, and they’re the ones that deface heritage buildings, and destroy people’s property for the hell of it. At the end of the day I have endless respect for the people that produce the amazing pieces, paste-ups, stencils and bombs I see around the streets, but I also get irked when uneducated toys deface the front of my apartment block…I guess you could would call me a fence sitter of sorts, like anything in life, street art has rules, and for me to respect you, you don’t have to necessarily abide by them, but you have to be knowledgeable enough to know they exist.
