What inspired you to create art and become an artist? (events, feelings, experiences...)
Since I was a little kid, since I remember, I was always drawing and creating something, so I was pretty sure that I wanted to work some kind of a creative job in my life. From a young age, drawing was my creative excursion into the world of imagination, the world I created on paper, the worlds and objects I invented, the cars I would drive...
What is your artistic background, the techniques and subjects you have experimented with so far?
I attended a great art school for applied art and design where I was learning and improving my skills. The love for the third dimension has been present from an early age when, as a boy, I drew cars and motorbikes from all possible angles. After my first attempts at drawing graffiti inspired by hip hop culture and MTV videos, I started adding a third dimension and impossible perspectives to my letters. The logical path of every creative person is research and artistic progress. I constantly wondered how such a drawing on paper or a wall would look like as a real object that the observer can walk around, turn, enter, play with light and shadows. Therefore, after almost thirty years of presence on domestic and European walls, with my graffiti I went to the area of object, volume and look for sculpturality in them, separating them from the walls and their two dimensions, giving them a new form.
It was quite a demanding job, because I started something I knew nothing about. But for me as an artist it was quite challenging to explore new forms and possibilities.
What are the 3 aspects that differentiate you from other artists, making your work unique?
I believe that we are so overloaded with quality works around the world, that we unconsciously copy each other. Therefore, it is difficult for me to single out three of my strengths. Perhaps the only real difference in relation to most colleagues is that I have many years of knowledge in the field of creative and the advertising industry, which greatly facilitates my communication and presentation, which over time becomes intuitive with tangible results. Great artwork means nothing if it does not reach its audience, and that requires quality communication, which often enters the spheres of marketing, advertising and even the entertainment industry.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Inspiration is not accidental, it takes a lot of practice, research, mistakes... Daily practice and a lot of thinking lead to fresh (and occasionally great) ideas.
What is your artistic approach? What visions, sensations or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
I always try to connect the innovation and a nice visual effect in my work. In the larger wall objects I create, I want the viewer to touch and walk around the sculpture, to look for the best angle for photography and to feel the shapes through the play of light and shadow.
What is the process of creating your works? Spontaneous or with a long preparatory process (technical, inspiration from art classics or other)?
I approach the creation of new works (most often for solo exhibitions) extremely seriously, with a lot of sketches, models and smaller models. I make such objects by hand for weeks, and in such a long process, the only spontaneous part is the painting of the finished work at the very end of the process.
Do you use a particular work technique? If so, can you explain it?
I make larger wall objects from styrofoam blocks, which I then manually cut and process into a pre-conceived and sketched shape. It is quite a demanding sculpting process because the impossible shapes and perspectives I create do not exist in nature.
Are there any innovative aspects in your work? Can you tell us which ones?
Graffiti has been my great love, hobby and interest since way back from 1988. I mainly paint graffiti that gives the impression of the third dimension (3d graffiti), and during all these years it seemed interesting to me to leave the two-dimensional surface of the wall with a real three-dimensional object that follows my graffiti drawing style. I know I'm not the first to do this, but I'm very happy to leave the surface of the wall, practically enter the wall, walk around it and create parts that are invisible in a two-dimensional image.
Do you have a format or medium that you are most comfortable with? if yes, why ?
I like to carve styrofoam blocks because it is a very pliable material for shaping and easily creating unexpected styles.
Where do you produce your works? At home, in a shared workshop or in your own workshop? And in this space, how do you organize your creative work?
After years of creating in a completely inappropriate garage, I have a workspace that is divided into two parts - a hardcore workspace where I paint, sand, cut, saw - and separate "clean part", where design and photo studio are located in a pleasant environment. The creation process is long-term, requires a lot of patience, trial and mistakes. Most of the works are created in my studio, except when the idea exceeds my knowledge and technological capabilities. Then I turn to my friends and colleagues who are an extremely important part of the creation process and without whom the final impression would be amateurish. Creativity and enthusiasm are contagious and many want to be part of a potentially beautiful story.
I believe that a person does not have big enough dreams if he thinks that he can achieve them by himself.
Does your work lead you to travel to meet new collectors, for fairs or exhibitions? If so, what does it bring you?
2020 was full of plans and preparations for several solo exhibitions and projects in Europe. Unfortunately, the plans changed due to the force of circumstances and the only thing left is acceptance and adaptation to the "new normal". The impossibility of traveling and the postponement of plans confined me to the studio, where I completely focused on work and cooperation with galleries around the world that recorded a large growth in online sales. In that challenging period, the most important thing was to survive and somehow isolate ourselves from the news we were exposed to on a daily basis. I found my peace in creation and the years passed in a second with many years of effort capitalized.
An uncertain year taught me that plans change quickly, and the ability to adapt creates new opportunities and more importantly - peace of mind, which is necessary for new creations.
How do you imagine the evolution of your work and your career as an artist in the future?
As a creative person, I will continue to satisfy myself. I think that art is a process of learning and research with the final result - personal satisfaction. If we are really satisfied, then we share that energy with the audience. Everything else will happen when it needs to happen.
What is the theme, style or technique of your latest artistic production?
“Drama Queen”, framed mirror with led lights created for exhibition “Queens” in Amsterdam’s GO Gallery. I love to explore new materials and techniques which regularly take me to completely new directions.
Can you tell us about your most important exhibition experience?
I believe that the huge sculpture (3x2m) exhibited at the solo exhibition in the Gallery KIC (Zagreb, 2018) combines my two passions (motorcycles* and art) with its shape, and especially with the material it is made of - carbon fiber - the most technologically advanced material used in motorsport today, aviation and space research.
*From my earliest childhood, I have been interested in motorcycles. The love for speed that we associate with motorcycles and the interest (in teenage years) in graffiti were spontaneously combined into the nickname 2Fast. I consider myself especially lucky to have been enjoying these two loves every day for many years.
If you could have created a famous work in the history of art, which one would you choose? And why?
I love all the works of Maurizio Cattelan. The man seems to be having a lot of fun creating his satirical and sometimes disturbing works.
If you could invite one famous artist (dead or alive) to dinner, who would it be? How would you suggest he spend the evening?
Banksy. I’m so curious to hear his opinion about importance of a sensible breakfast 🙂
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
