Numskull must have been working around the clock with everything he has been involved in recently. All the street art lovers will have recently seen his work in Art & About Sydney (Streetware 2011), a pop-up exhibition at the Galeries in Sydney called “Transient”, the Outpost Project on Cockatoo Island and his latest exhibition ‘Mixed Messages’ is currently showing at Kind of Gallery. I was lucky to get a sneak peak at some of the work he was creating when I went to the Higher Ground Studio Open day a couple of months ago and have been looking forward to seeing the final collection of work in the exhibition. I love typography and the manulation of text in art so I love his style. Don’t miss his “Mixed Messages” exhibition (Kind of Gallery (72 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst) which finishes on December 3, or Outpost Project which is open until December 11. Huge thanks to Numskull for finding time in his hectic schedule to give us an insight into his creative process!
How long have you been doing street art and how did you initially get started?
I started out doing Graffiti in the late 90s because my brother did it and really liked the freedom of writing your name wherever you want. From then on I have been constantly experimenting and moving between street art and traditional graffiti.
How would you describe your street art identity and style?
Tyopgraphy, letter-forms, pattern and bold character collage.
I “borrowed” it from a british comic strip called “The Numskulls”. I used to travel a lot to England and would always read it whenever I could find a copy. It was a funny storyline of a young kid who had 5 small creatures living in his head controlling his senses. I was also at a point where I didn’t want the traditional shortened graffiti tag. I wanted something long and meaningful.
I get inspired by a lot of different things. Colours, signs, people, weirdos, strange situations and more. My style has evolved through many phases. I’ve been painting graffiti, street art, characters and lettering at many different points in my career. At the moment, it’s a conglomerate of all of these styles.
The location is based on how hard it is to get in, or how open to public art the owners are. Wall pieces are usually thought out a little bit, unless they need to be done quick. The quick stuff can either be your worst or most enjoyable work. I was recently commissioned to paint a set of wooden panels for an event where it took all day to paint. Before the event opened I found a sneaky wall out the back and painted something I am a lot happier with, but it only took 40 minutes.
Do you usually work by yourself on the street or with other street artists??
I used to paint by myself illegally. I found I was more distracted with other people around. Legal walls are always with other artists.
A two story high wall in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. It was a commissioned wall and is to date, my most proud piece of work. Bigger the better.
Graffiti artist: Roach DRS TGS
Where can someone buy your work? Do you do commission work? How can someone contact you if they want an original Numskull design??
Either at my gallery shows or through me personally, via my website funskull.com (or email numskull@funskull.com). I do take on commissions, but it depends on the request really. I’m pretty open.
Mixed Messages is my proudest collection of paintings to date. This body of work is based around messages, advertising and our environments, especially in crowded cities. I have a love hate relationship with advertising. It feeds me information and I digest it then spit it out. At the moment I’m using found or bought wood and other materials to create typography based work. I try not to force a meaning or reason onto people. A lot of my paintings start off aesthetically and the meaning comes later.
I am involved in a few sections of Outpost. A piece in the Mays Lane collection, one in the Dog Leg Tunnel, a few things in the NEXT section, a small wall with Shida and a giant Pyramid Temple I built alongside Beastman and Phibs. Creating the work for Outpost was super fun. Hanging out on an island in the Harbour with all of your friends, painting every day is like a dream come true. It never happens, so I was proud to be a part of it.
The Locantro Deli on Catherine St, Leichhardt.
Bar Italia is always a winner. Cheap and cheerful.
