neon shards
vexta
interview with i.t.a.
vexta it’s an absolute, breathtaking moment to get to speak with such an esteemed and multi-talented street artist like yourself. i must say, i’m completely stunned. welcome so much to powder.
Thank you so much…
so let’s begin at the beginning, what took you out onto the street in the first place? what street was it? were you stenciling and did someone lead you out there?
When I first starting painting on the street I did begin with stencils but now I see stencils as just one part of my tool kit, like another type of brush. I have no desire to paint a five storey wall with a giant stencil, it would be a nightmare for me so I’d rather just paint it with brushes and rollers.
I really cant really define one moment that took me to the streets to make my first marks, maybe the first was when I was a small child and saw a big black anarchy symbol painted on a wall and wondered what it meant, why was it there and who was it for? I was always painting and drawing on walls, driving my parents crazy. In the mid 2000s, I settled down in Melbourne after travelling and that’s when I connected with other street artists and the beginning of the stencil and street art movement in that city. Around that time I start painting in Fitzroy, I went out by myself and just painted small stencils, it was a little while before I connected with other artists who were into street art.
what were those early days like? did you run with a crew? and your distinct style, did you have it then? how did that evolve?
My early days I rolled solo, occasionally talking a friend into coming with me to act as a look out. I’ve never painted with a crew but I have painted with plenty of friends… In the early days in Melbourne it was just one big loose crew of artists who were into graffiti and street art. There really wasn’t a lot of us, so everyone knew each other and became friends.
I think I have always had my style, I didn’t start with fluro colours but I was into bright colours, the first stencil I painted was a baby skeleton, another early image was girl whose hair morphed into roots and leaves, another was hands that turned into leaves blowing in the wind. That metamorphic element has always been there.
what is it like creating on the streets? what are the advantages of it? what are the hazards? why didn’t you just stay in a studio?
Creating on the streets is a rush, its working with all the elements all at once – the architecture, the weather, the light, the people, the animals, the plants, the space around you…
And its high risk – whether you are going to possibly get arrested or whether or not you can artistically pull off what you are trying to do. You can’t turn around and throw a two story high painting on a wall in the bin like you could in a studio. It’s all of nothing. And that’s why I love it and it will always be a part of what I do in my art practice. I can’t stay in a studio because I didn’t start in one. Everything I do is tied to the street, I learnt how to paint there. I’m self taught and I guess I need to be around the energy of the city.
and with the skulls and the winged creatures, the symbols and the mythos of your work, can you explain a little to us about what it’s all about?
I’m really interested in the way art relates to story telling and myth making. Street art is our urban mythology, it’s the way we understand ourselves in our cities right now.
I’ve always worked from quite a subconscious place, piecing together parts of dreams and images from my imagination. Overtime it’s refined the continuing thread of life / death / change. The acknowledgment of our mortality, individual and collective; the ability we have for change or metamorphosis and the interconnectedness of all living things. Change is the only constant in this world, yet we constantly hold onto this nostalgic sameness in our lives, the places we live, the paths we tread, the things we buy. If I get up everyday and acknowledge that all this will one day pass then I live a better life, I change things up. It’s like the light and the dark you cant pretend one doesn’t exist. Against the darkness, the light shines brighter.
My art is usually high contrast. A friend in India pointed out to me that I paint mostly at night and he felt that he could feel this in my work, that’s definitely something my work is about – subconscious, the night. The neon shards are my representations of the elements of this world we cant see with our naked eye. Atomic particles, the feeling you get when you feel empathy when watching a swallow fly, the desire to connect and so on. They are limitless.
you’re known as one of the most prominent female street artists on the scene. which other female street artists do it for you?
So many artists do it for me. At the moment, I’m pretty inspired by both women and men who are multifaceted, esp those into music and art making, they aren’t necessarily only street artists, though.
as a woman on the street art scene how has it been for you? is there any prejudice out there and has it been confronting?
Sure, you can find people with prejudices everywhere in every culture. I try not to give them any of my energy. Don’t feed the fire and it wont burn. Prejudice is more disappointing than confronting.
what function do you think street art has in a community? do you think it is a modern phenomenon or has it been around for a while?
Writing on walls has been in existence since man began. Indigenous Australians have been drawing on rock walls for the last 60,000 years. I really think that street art is a modern urban mythology. Its super symbolic and it’s the way of all the best myths, easily understood by many.
so banksy actually invited you to show alongside his works at the two thousand and eight cans festival in london. what an honour that must have been. what was the experience like and did you come face to face with the mysterious man?
It was an honour. We didn’t come face to face but we worked side by side.
you’ve taken your work all over the world, most recently to mexico city. what are the places that have stuck in your heart the most?
Mexico very much cemented itself in my heart, that one is a long-term relationship. I also loved painting in Colombia a lot, I would like to spend more time in South and Central America painting that is for sure. I really want to get to Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo at some point.
and lastly, what are you doing now in brooklyn? what’s the street art scene like there? and what are your favourite things about that neck of the woods.
I’m living and breathing New York. The energy here is electric. Everyday I’m inspired by something. I moved house recently into a loft with a tall tree outside my window and I wake up to the sounds of birds like I’m in a forest and then I go downstairs and it’s the city. I love that. I also just set up a new studio. So after 10 months on the road and living out of a suitcase it’s nice to settle back down into Brooklyn life again. NYC is big city but the scene here is quite small and intimate really.
such an honour ms vexta. thanks so much for your words. we certainly look forward to catching your next beautiful creations.
Your welcome – Many thanks back to you.
check vexta's site
follow facebook.com/vexta
instagram @vexta
