You only need to take a quick glimpse at any one piece of work by Jasper Wong to see that his is a unique, colourful and vibrant mind.

With characters that draw scenic-route influences from all walks of high, sub and alternative culture, as well as his own internal musings, Jasper is an artist with a broad, open minded and playful attitude. These representations of pseudo-pop imagery, (for instance the abundancy of rainbows and lazers, which he is so fond of), play a central part in this playfulness, as do his brightly expressed, colourful palettes. Furthermore, his ability to easily poke a proverbial stick at cultural inclinations, via the use of quasi-sexual imagery and mashups of characters from across the spectrums of our youth, resonants with many of his fans.

This vibrancy of Jaspers is not only evident in his art, but also carries through to the multitude of projects and passions that he advocates on a daily basis. As one of the founders of Hong Kongs Above Second Gallery, as well as his new gallery venture in Hawai’i, Loft In Space, he has also brought a unique event to the centre of the Pacific in the form of Pow Wow – an exhibition, live art and mural festival that has drawn artists from all across the globe.

All of these things within the artist seem to manifest in one pure and un-objective direction – a  drive to not only further his own artistic passion, but to also help provide a support and promotional mechanism for fellow artists and creatives; and counts as one of a plethora of pioneering individuals across the globe who continue to push new and exciting art into the general publics field of view.

As one of the key speakers at Carbon Festival 2012, Jasper Wong will also be holding a solo show at Federation Square, “A Corny Concerto”, this coming weekend. In the lead up to Carbon, we managed to grab an interview with him before the weekends mayhem, to get an insight into his work, as well as his many projects – so read on, and enjoy!

You’re based in Hong Kong, but have very strong ties with home in Hawaii, do you often finds yourself dividing your time between Hong Kong and Hawaii? What does each place bring to your world, and your work, and how do the two different environments influence you?

I enjoy the juxtaposition between the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong and the slow small town pace of Hawaii. It’s nice to jump between the two cities. These days, I spend more time in Hawaii than Hong Kong mainly due to starting a new warehouse sized gallery and putting together art festivals like Pow Wow. Aside from the pace of the cities, being exposed to such drastically different cultures is eye opening and contributes to my growth as an artist and as a person. I’ve had stints in Portland, San Francisco, Kyoto, and Hong Kong. Each destination has aided in my life journey.

Existential BS aside, the girls are hotter in Hawaii so I prefer to stay there. Hong Kong is the fugliest place on planet Earth.

Lazers. We love fucking lazers. You obviously have an affinity for them – where did this come from, and explain to everyone who don’t realise it yet, why lazers are so damn cool and how you would convert someone to the world of lazer love. Wait, are lazers still cool?

Dude. Lazers are rad! I’m stoked that you share the same sentiment. My first exposure to the wonderful world of lazers was through Dragonball and the X-Men.

At a later age, I discovered that lasers were real but only robots had the ability to do it. I hope to one day get into a terrible accident and lose a few limbs. My subsequent deformity and depression will lead to a government organization using my body as a guinea pig and thus turn me into a cyborg. Hopefully, they install a few laser beams in my fingers, eyes, and nipples.

Is it all about the colour? (I mean, the art, not the lazers. Though, coloured lazers are cool …) your colour palettes are pretty unique, is this a conscious decision or do they just come out in a glorious colourgasm?

I just bukkake on the surface and those are the colours that appear – I think I have some weird STD called rainbow-titis.

Were going to take a stab in the dark and guess that you’re a big fan of comics – what are some of your favourite standout series or issues, and what do you mostly gravitate towards? Either that, or tell us we’re way off …

I love comics. I loved them as a kid and I still love them to this day. I’m a nerd to every degree. Invincible, Walking Dead, and Fables are on heavy rotation for me right now. Anything that is written by Robert Kirkham, Grant Morrison, or Mark Millar is a must-read. Nuff’ said.

Process process process .. everyone always talks about process – we’re more interested in the beautiful mistakes – what are some of the best, or worst, beautiful mistakes you’ve made in your work, or, shit, your life?

Wear a condom, kids.

You’re going to be doing a show at Fed Square while you’re here – what kind of work have you been doing for it, will it be paintings, prints, a little of this, a little of that?

The airline lost my baggage, so I have to crank out all of the work within a week. I set up a shop at my homies’ spot in Everfresh studios. The work will be incredibly shitty or dope – who knows? I’m hoping for the latter.

We’re pretty keen to hear all about your gallery ventures, Above Second and Loft in Space – can you give us a bit of background on the spaces, and how you got involved in putting them together?

I didn’t like the art scene and galleries in either cities, so I had two options: be a pussy and complain about it all the time or take action and do something of my own. I decided to take action and the galleries were born from that decision.

Meggs recently had a show at Above Space and we saw snippets from the Arrested Motion show, and we’ve seen a fair bit from Loft In Space too – what else do you and the rest of those involved have in store for the future of both galleries?

We’re just building and trying to bring something new to the cities that the galleries exist in. It’s a lot of work and destroys my pocketbook, but it’s all worth it.

I’m hoping that it’ll continue to grow and we can do bigger and better shows.

Pow Wow has constantly both delighted and surprised us, we’ve really enjoyed checking it out each time – you have a pretty great range of artists participating. Where did the idea for Pow Wow first spring from, and can you tell us a bit about the most recent event? What were some of the stand out moments, for you?

Thank you! Pow Wow is essentially a gathering to celebrate art, music, and culture. It grew from a small event in Hong Kong to what it is now. These days, we paint a ton of murals in my neighborhood, teach kids about art through workshops and a college lecture series, and do a lot of other tomfoolery during the week of the event. We already started working on next year’s event and the roster is going to be even bigger and better.

The whole event was one gigantic stand out moment. It’s hard to pick one exact place in time that meant more to me than the others. Just seeing everyone together and painting was a dream come true for me.

So, have you managed to locate any fast cars or loose women yet? You’re coming to Melbourne, so there’s still hope ;) … but, seriously, besides that, what else do you have planned for after Carbon? Give us some dirt on what’s next …

Hahaha. After Carbon, I’m curating more shows at my gallery, painting for some group exhibition in Los Angeles, and building a skate park and creative center.

That’s about it for now … I think.

Check out Jasper Wongs website, the Carbon Festival website, Pow Wow Hawai’i, the Loft In Space and Above Second website for even more details.