Title: Sentinel
Size: 16″ x 20″
Medium: Spraypaint, acrylic and India ink on canvas.
Description: This work depicts a part of the city that is very unique to Vancouver: the scaffolding that rises above the alleyways in the older parts of the city where street art is most often found. As this is a global auction and I am my city’s sole representative, I wanted to provide a work that really represented where I’m from.
As a street artist, these alleys are my playgrounds and my galleries- they are the places in which I put up most of my work. Every time I see the poles and wires rising above me, I feel like I’m home. This particular stencil was hand-drawn from a photograph that I took while out on a solo mission. The lone crow atop the pole ‘kept 6ix” for me, acting as lookout while I did my work, lifting into the air only as I moved on.
Hand-drawing my stencils is a process that I have used since day one. I find that it produces a more unique stencil design than by using a computer – and although it is a longer more difficult process, it is a much more satisfying experience. This stencil represents a new development for me artistically – more and more I am making stencils from my own photograph – I enjoy that the image is wholly mine from start to finish.
Bio:
I am a street artist based in Vancouver BC, Canada. I make art because I have no choice. I have a constant compulsion to create and leave bits and pieces of myself around the city. I make art because it keeps me sane – because otherwise I would implode. It’s in my blood, in my bones, in my head and my heart and my lungs. I make art because without it I am nothing.
I make stenciled posters for the street and mixed-media work on canvas and wood panels. In all of my work, I am inspired and informed by the artists around me; by my family, friends and complete strangers; by random happenings and coincidences. Recently I have been working with themes of memory, dreams, nostalgia and sadness.
I’m constantly pushing myself to explore new mediums and methods of creation – to continue to challenge myself artistically (and to keep from getting bored). In the near future, I want to use linoleum printing to create larger scale posters, and to bring some of the techniques I use on canvas into my work on the streets.
