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At Primary Flight, Miami 2009. Photo by: Jeremiah Garcia
Welcome to my new look site. I’ve been meaning to revise the format for a while and try some new approaches to blogging, sharing my inspirations, projects and process with you in a more in depth way.
What motivated this? Well, 2009 was a pretty epic year for me. I turned 30, something I didn’t think would mark such a monumental ‘coming of age’ but it actually did. 30 is one of those landmark ages where you tend to reflect on what you have achieved against what you may have expected to have achieved or perhaps what societies expectation of you is. Having chosen fairly young to take the path of being an artist, specifically a graffiti artist it’s needless to say that I don’t have much in the way of material wealth, assets or conventional accolades. I certainly haven’t lived a life that has afforded me a house or made me highly employable in the typical sense.
A couple of years back, I went through some hard times emotionally and I started to reflect on this a lot. I began to question my chosen path and wonder if it was all in vain. As I mentioned, I really had little to show for all my work. I often struggled to make ends meet and was still relying on my partner (a student at the time) to manage the cash flow in our household. I considered getting a ‘normal’ job but most potential employers didn’t understand ‘what’ I was as far as fitting me into a specific role. All the while I kept pushing myself as an artist, trying to work every angle. It was frustrating trying to approach galleries or speak with people within that world because there was always a hint of them not taking me seriously. I was starting to become consumed by that aspect, wondering why after all these years, with all this sweat, tears and perspiration, after all the stress, chases and injuries, even after all the attention to developing my painting technique and striving to be the best I could, why my work still felt futile when presented to the people I perceived as from the ‘art world’.
I reached a ‘epiphany’ of sorts when I realised its nobodies fault but our own (The writers) that we don’t get treated as credible artists. It’s almost entirely about our inner conflict about graffiti in the context of its place in the art world. I truly believe that is the heart of the matter.
What we (generally) lack as a community are these four main things: An understanding of art history, real concept development and research of ideas, being able to identify graffiti’s key point of difference within the realm of art and strong documentation that reinforces our paintings and contextualises them. Aside from that, it’s about presenting, sharing, debating and striving to evolve. It’s also about honesty, being true to yourself and finding your voice.
I didn’t go to art school. I didn’t have time to incubate good art practise during the span of my studies so this revelation may sound fairly rudimentary to some. Realising these things changed my outlook dramatically though. I found new ways to enjoy the journey. I found a new mechanism to set goals, develop my work, evaluate my principals and also explain my objectives to people outside of graffiti. This marked a massive change in how I feel about where I am at today. I look back at 2009 and I am blown away. I look at how far I’ve come and appreciate that. Mostly though, I feel excited about where I’m going. That’s where this new site comes into play.
In this main blog section of the site, I will share a lot about my projects, from the inspiration, the research, through to the drawings and eventual painting process. I will present this with writing, photos and videos. Once a visible ‘body’ of work is defined it will be summarised and posted in the ‘Works’ section. Basically you will see the ideas develop, this site will function as my journal for you all to see.
Thanks to everyone that has supported me thus far and stay tuned in 2010.
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Me too! haha. Working on my first post about a running stream in my work. Might take a while though haha!
pretty insightful. looking forward to seeing your year unfold.
Very insightful. Great to read that and I’m looking forward to seeing the site updates.
i fill i will look this site very often 
(is that english?)
Hey man, thats awesome. I’ve had art as my career for 15 years and I know where you’re comin from. I still sometimes have doubts as to the validity of my chosen profession, the mark it will make and the change that it influences (or doesn’t). Lookin forward to seeing your journey.
man you are honestly setting ground and really breaking borders with the stuff youre doing. I completely respect you and you are an inspiration to me. YOU ARE ONE OF THE GUYS WHO ARE SETTING THE GROUND FOR ARTISTS LIKE ME AND BILLIONS OF OTHER KIDS WHO HAVE THEIR NAMES IN ALOT OF PLACES. We all RESPECT you no doubt, and if anybody says different than they’ll just be a tool to society. Man keep this mad shit flowin not just for me, but for all of the young writers everywhere. Peace from Nashville.
F O L E K
Thanks heaps bro. It’s humbling to have my work regarded this way, I feel blessed to have an audience and the opportunity to be a creative individual..
HANG IN THERE!!!!!!!
ITS GOOD TO KNOW THAT THERE IS SOME DEEP MEANING IN YOUR WORK SOMETHING THAT NOT ALL ARTIST DO IN THERE WORKS
Nice site you got, i like your art it has alot of meaning.. keep it up
Your work rocks my world of art, how could I get in contact with you to get a master piece scripted out for me and the community, Thanks heaps
Great to see this Blog up and Running. I’m a big fan of your work and this will be a bookmarked site which I will visit regularly LOL it’s interesting to read your thoughts on these projects and also see your pieces around the streets of Auckland. It’s great to see your work out there. As a young Artist, this is inspirational material. Stay up forever bro!
Sweet as
Phas
I’m come from china !nice~~!!!
I come from China that your work is terrific! China’s graffiti art in the development, in learning, you are our role model!
This is my blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/akach
hope you give us pointing, the Chinese people are grateful to you!
I have read the opening of your new site and I’d say it sounds like you’ve opened a new and site and a new sight. As a graffiti artist who has struggled to cross over into the Sydney art world for several years, your words resonate and ring true in several ways. I think graffiti artists are being treated more seriously as artists than ever – we have a lot of gallery artists crossing over into graffiti and it’s many applications and trying to tap into what makes a lot of graf art so fresh, original and alive.
We’ll get there..
Peace
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Sounds like a plan look forward to seeing it come together