Continuing our feature profile on the delightful bunch of female artists taking part in the Fibre Femme exhibition, it is our pleasure to introduce Doctor.

A relative newcomer to the Urban scene, Doctor is, nonetheless, making her mark and making it oh so beautifully. With a refreshing combination of both written and visual elements Her work is elegant, thought provoking and curious. Doctor utilises her skills as a talented photographer to create pieces which through their subtlety, linger in your mind for a pleasant while after.

We caught up with Doctor as she prepared for the exhibition, and found out a little more about what drives her work, her plans for the show, and just what inspires those beautiful little anecdotes …

You’re relatively new to the street art scene, what were you doing before, and what motivated you to get out on the street as apposed to anywhere else?

Previous to hitting the streets with my own ‘art’ I was (and still am) a keen street art follower and amateur photographer. As a child I very much enjoyed cutting, layering, pasting, scribbling etc. This is a love that has definitely stayed with me and developed over time to where I am now. I took to the streets simply because they were there. I saw what others could do and achieve and thought ‘perhaps I should give it a go’. So, after much procrastination, I did.

There are some beautiful written components to your images about the place. Do the words usually inspire the image.. or the other way round?

More often the words inspire the image. I am heavily influenced by lyrics and my own words from the past and present. I’ve noticed that the words almost have to carry a heavy emotive load. Although sometimes the piss-taker within comes out and can be seen time to time in my work. I very rarely do pieces with no ‘tag lines’ but I do contemplate exploring that aspect for future pieces as I know that not all situations in life can be explained through words, not everything in life requires words.

These anecdotes often intrigue me as to what inspired you when creating a piece. What do you hope others take from your work?

Ultimately I hope people can relate to my images. If they can’t relate (for whatever reason that may be) I hope that my work provokes a reaction within. Even if people look at my work and dislike it, they are still feeling something for it. That ‘something’ is what matters to me.

Your creative talents aren’t limited to your work on the street, I have seen some of your photography, simply stunning.What inspires you to be creative..are the same curiosities explored through both?

Curiosity drives me. It is never ending. I am always willing to explore things in life I haven’t yet experienced. This is the main force behind my creativity. Its what leads me to abandoned buildings, for paste-ups and photography, you just never know what you are going to come across. I’m constantly craving something new which contradicts my subtle dislike for inevitable change. Emotion influences me. I struggle to express myself through speech, so it is relieved through drawing, painting and photography. My past shapes me and everything I do in my art. I look forward to and anticipate the future but letting go and moving on has never been one of my strong points.

Lastly, but certainly not least, other artists inspire me. I am constantly in awe of the beautiful art around me. This includes street art, fine art, photography, fashion and architecture. In these there are never ending possibilities and surprises.

Any plans to combine your images with your street art?

I already use a lot of my own imagery in my work. When I first started doing paste-ups I gathered images from all sources but as I went on and became more confident with my ideas, I started to use my own photography and sketches. Often the result I’m trying to achieve requires setting up my own photo or working off my own photos. I was quite hesitant to use my own images in fear of blurring the two ‘hobbies/identities’, but I have found a nice balance that works well for the moment.

Fibre Femme is your first group show as a street artist, I’m pretty excited! Has your work gone through any changes in its transition to the gallery walls?

Small changes, nothing drastic. I actually do 90% of my paste-ups from scratch, by hand in a sketch book. Once I have completed the image, it’s off to the printers I go. I certainly haven’t excluded the idea of having all original hand-completed works on the street but at this stage, with the time restraints, I can only push out an original on the street once a month or so. The rest are copied from the book. So the only difference between what’s on the street and what will be in the gallery – is that the real thing will be up on the wall and completed with more care and precision where needed.

Kaff-eine and myself have been discussing an idea for some time and are hoping to have it completed for the exhibition. It’s only recently Fresh Chop and myself achieved an image that may also be in the exhibition. I plan to do a lot more collaboration with these artists and hopefully others in the future.

Are there any particular artists inspiring you right now, say the top three artists you would take with you to an abandoned city, walls aplenty?

There are two local artists that totally have my attention. I have been following paste-up artist, Drab for almost two years. I used to photograph his work and this is how I initially got in touch with him. I am in awe of the sheer size of his images. He’s not pretentious with the placement of his work and I really dig his style. Being an amateur photographer and a person who is slightly obsessed with fine lines I really appreciate that Drab usually incorporates simple line work with traditional type photographs. Despite their somewhat deceiving simplified look, Drabs characters convey such an array of emotions.
Deams from the AWOL crew is a graff artist who really knows what he is doing. His images are always sharp and his colour schemes are excruciatingly good. Including these two aspects I am completely fascinated with birds, in particular, small birds so Deams automatically had my full attention when he made his bird series public. I quite often come across his work when I’m doing photography in abandoned buildings and it’s always a nice surprise to see something so cheerfully bright and fresh in such a dark and cold space.

Paste up artist and photographer JR has recently got my vote for one of the best paste up artists in the world. The idea of capturing portraits of people who are struggling, who in the scheme of things are ‘nothing’, and posting their portraits, large scale in public for everyone to see and notice… it’s spectacular. I have listened to him being interviewed and seen him on YouTube doing his thing and I am blown away by his morals, ideas and techniques.

The thought of taking these three artists to an abandoned city would be dream-like.

We hope we see more and more from you in the near future, but what’s next for Doctor the street artist? Where do you want to be in the next 5 years?

I currently do all my art off the kitchen table so my own studio space is definitely on the cards for a few years time. I take life as it comes so it’s difficult to picture where I could be in 5 years time. I have plans to travel overseas. I want to take my art to different countries. I hope in doing that I will meet other artists and learn new techniques, experience new things and expand my knowledge.

You can check out more of Doctors work and shenanigans on her Facebook page and flickr. Dont forget to check out more details for Fibre Femmes at the Surface Pop Up blog and the Facebook Event.