For all of you out there who think Suki (pronounced Su-key) is take off of a vampire loving; southern belle from the HBO series, True Blood, you’re all wrong; Melbourne’s Suki is a lot less two-dimensional, and a whole lot more interesting.
Representative of the trend towards minimally coloured past-ups, Suki’s work is, noticeably, the product of both artistic skill and a dreamy imagination. Like many of her street artist contemporaries, Suki’s pieces garner attention not just because they are striking, but because they are so recognisably hers. Feminine contours, floating clouds and the mysterious pig-tailed woman with the fan … if you haven’t seen her work yet, open your god damn eyes!
Soon to strut her creative stuff with the all female street artist collaborative, Fibre Femmes, in Prahran’s new Surface Pop Gallery, Suki recently lent us some of her precious studio time for this second part of our week long special feature …
Firstly, as like most Melbournians who’ve seen you’re paste-ups, I LOVE YOUR WORK. Secondly, I’ve read somewhere that you see art as instinctual. What would you say to someone who said they couldn’t make art?
I think that people need to let go of their preconceptions of what art is. So many people are so quick to say that they can’t draw or can’t paint or whatever, but if they let go of what they think it means to be artistic then they will find that there is no such thing as “can’t”. But you know, there are some people out there that have amazing talent and sometimes I wish I could just get inside their heads (and hands) just for a little while!
Do you think a creative mind can get you in trouble sometimes?
That depends on what you think trouble is! If you are referring to street art, then sure there is an element of risk involved, and we all know that. On a more subtle level though, when your creativity runs away with you, you can find yourself spending all your money on art supplies, which can be rather dangerous!
Speaking about urban art for a minute, what do you think makes art look ‘urban’ or ‘street’?
I guess that if a piece of art is on the street it has to be classified as ‘urban’ or ‘street’. There are so many different styles and ideas that people bring to the street, I think that the more variety there is out there the better. The idea of ‘street art’ or ‘urban art’ is forever changing so we shouldn’t really get attached to what we think street art should be, chances are that tomorrow when we wake up someone will have brought something new and beautiful to add to the collective artwork that lines our streets.
Your paste-ups are dreamy, beautiful, and bloody awesome. Why do you think your work is so striking even when there is an absence of colour?
In life it is so easy to get caught up on deadlines, whether it’s getting to work on time, finishing an assignment, or paying the rent, we all seem to be forever caught in this perpetual spiral. I’m not the best at coping with impending deadlines so I have to continually remind myself to enjoy the small things.
For me, art is about beauty and living in the moment and enjoying the small things in life. A few people have told me that they like “my attention to detail”, I might have to steal that phrase because I guess it sums it up!
What are your favourite mediums, and have you always used a particular style?
I grew up being surrounded with art so it has always been a part of me, but I struggled for years with how to express myself with art. Like what I said earlier about preconceptions, I thought I needed to be able to paint to be an artist. I found it difficult to create art that I was really happy with. It wasn’t until I really got into old school printing techniques that I found a way I could really express myself, so I guess that my style just came naturally from that. I came to printing initially as a teenager. I discovered and fell in love with body printing when I was researching Gordon Bennett. It was years later that decided to look into other forms of printing. After experimenting with a few different printing techniques I found that I gravitated towards lino cutting more than other forms because of its ease and flexibility, and the level of detail I can get from it. I think it’s the surprises that printing brings that I like so much, you can spend ages working on cutting the lino and in the process you develop a kind of sentimental attachment to it then when you come to making prints it’s like a whole new experience, it’s really exciting when you peel back the paper to see what you have created.
Who’s the lady with the fan? Does she have a name?
My fan girls are not based on anyone in particular, they are kind of Manga influenced but I guess I just thought it was a cool idea. All my ideas are just things I think would look beautiful or pretty cool.
Now, tell us a bit about the show Fibre Femme at Surface Pop…
I’m really excited about this show. It’s really great having the chance to work with all these fantastic artists. Surface Pop is setting up shop in a new venue, this show will be the first so I think we’re all keen to kick this off and make a big impression. We’ll be collaborating to create an awesome display reminiscent of the streets we so love to work in. In between all that we will have a bunch of mounted paste-ups and stencils and other pretty little bits and pieces.
The plan is just to get in there and have some fun.
Are collaborative shows easier? Or just as crazy to put together as exhibitions that cover just your own work?
To be honest this is the first show I’ve actually done. I really like the culmination of ideas and styles, it will make this event totally different to how each of us would present ourselves in a solo show. At the moment it is still a bit surreal, once we get into the space and start working I think the reality of it will kick in. Renee (Surface Pop) has been great, her organisation and ideas are what is pulling this all together, I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that we wouldn’t be able to organise something like this without her.
Any particular works you want us to look out for?
There may be a few surprises around Prahran. I’ve been working pretty hard in the studio lately so I’ll hit the streets with some new stuff real soon …
You can check out more of Sukis work on her Facebook page. Also, don’t forget to check out the info on Fibre Femmes at theSurface Pop blog and the Facebook event.
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