artist: Gus Eagleton + Cekios
all images are copyrighted to janie d photography and may not be reproduced without express permission
all art work remains the property of the artist/s and may not be reproduced without express permission
all images are copyrighted to janie d photography and may not be reproduced without express permission
all art work remains the property of the artist/s and may not be reproduced without express permission
all images are copyrighted to janie d photography and may not be reproduced without express permission
all art work remains the property of the artist and may not be reproduced without express permission
all images are copyrighted to janie d photography and may not be reproduced without express permission
all art work remains the property of the artists and may not be reproduced without express permission
all images are copyrighted to janie d photography and may not be reproduced without express permission
all art work remains the property of the artist SKULK and may not be reproduced without express permission
Love the tag! Β Whether people admit it or not, there are those who are liberal with its use and those (although they may deny it) who will “think” it. Β How, where and what was the inspiration behind your street-name.
I seem to use the word a lot when I speak. Β The name itself also dissuades the art community from trying to recruit my services etc (parasites!)
Your work can scale the size of a building throughΒ to the tiniest stencil that would go almost unnoticed by the bulk of the non-street population. What provides the stimuli : whether it be words or extraordinary pieces as with “Best We Forget”
Good question. Β I sometimes wonder what motivates my work. Β When I first started I thought I had to conform to a certain style or path: big stencils & vanilla art. It’s only in the last year I feel that my work is a truthful. Β eg: I’m totally cynical, so my work is a reflection of this. I’ve always had strong anti-social tendencies and a history of playing the role of Devil’s Advocate so when I see a proliferation (at least in my own opinion) of cute and safe street art then I can’t help but react and try to do the opposite.
When you see images being posted online by photographers like myself, how does that gel with you as an artists or is it merely a case of “job done…NEXT”
Not quite sure if I qualify as an artist. Β I have a backlog of about 30 stencils and another 10 sites to hit, so yes ‘NEXT’ would be an apt description.
Do you find our two worlds collide (ie: personal family man vs street-artist)
Vary rarely, although itΒ canΒ be a pain when I’ve been out til late and my son decides to wake at 7:00am every morning, but I usually forgive him since he’s so goddamn cute!
What would be one of the more profound reactions to a piece that you have had to date
The best reaction (although may be not so profound) was when some random girl showed me her tits and she found I was the person behind the CB paste up
In terms of profound reactions, I think my own are Β the most important. It’s a good feeling when you see your artwork being copied in various locations around the world. It’s also amusing to realise I am more renown internationally than within my own country.
all images are copyrighted to janie d photography and may not be reproduced without express permission
all art work remains the property of the artist FUKT and may not be reproduced without express permission
What was your initial entree to street art and can you give a rationale in regards to your tag name
I guess I started a few years ago when I was doing a bunch of live art shows around Sydney for free drinks. I enjoyed the speed of it all and wanted to start playing around with spray paint so I could start using more colour at speed.
I met Bafcat and Resan (a couple of painters) earlier that year and ended up going to some abandoned factories to hang out and have a paint. I really enjoyed using cans, learnt a bunch of little tricks pretty and have been hooked on painting since then. OX comes from the fact that I always had a hard time telling people my last name. Not that’s it particularly long or weird or anything; just having a semi-English/Australian accent people seemed to get it wrong in a variety of bizarre ways.
i wanted to go by something incredibly simple and something that was symbolic above just letters. I like how both the symbols O and X are used in so many different contexts other the letter format. I have always preferred images over the written word, so I think OX represents my work well. There are a bunch of other reasons but I won’t go in to them as they probably equally as boring.
What drives your creativity
Not sure really. It’s just something I do, something I enjoy working hard at and exploring new ways to create.
Art in whatever medium has always been attractive to me. There are no rules, no wrong answers and on one who can stop you from doing it. It can be incredibly difficult and especially financially unrewarding at the best of times, but no matter what I do, there is always an element that is predominantly positive.
It’s important to me that I’m never going to be able to master what I do, I’m never going to reach ‘that point’ where I’m finished. I’m always learning and there will always be something that I’m just going to suck at. I think that probably what drives me most: just trying to do work that’s better than my last piece. I want to be a grizzled old man one day who still worries over his filthy painting.
Some of your work is incredibly complex with specific reference to the first shot I took at PM3 (below)
Is there a specific “story” for each creation, or is it almost a continual work in progress to the point that while you may personally never be 100% satisfied with the finished product (“it needs a tweek here”), others perceive it as a perfection
Improving my techniques is definitely what drives my work, but in each piece I try to tell an ambiguous story I guess. Most of my work is character based and I have a background in animation which is where the story-telling element of my work comes from. I like to give people a character that they can imagine a story for: in that way the viewer has a role in the creation of the work as well.
Do you prefer the freedom of wall or the restrictions of design
I like elements of both. I enjoy being able to take as long as I want in the studio trying to perfect whatever I am working on at the the time getting lost in illustration really chills me out, but after a few days I start to get some serious cabin fever. So that’s when I really like getting outside and painting with some mates for fun; it’s really the only environment I can make art and be social at the same time. It’s fast and takes me to new places that can only be compliment endless hours in the studio.
In a perfect world where do you see yourself as the artist being within (say) the next 5 years
I would like to be illustrating and painting full time. Having enough clients that I can life purely off selling my own art and doing illustration work that I really enjoy. The freedom of that kind of work would allow me to travel around and do more mural work than I am capable of doing at the moment. AND the opportunity to exhibit my work overseas more often.
The Incidental Photographer 