| by Jonas Marnell |
Nov 12, 2009 at 02:28 |
Last year I went on a trip to the USA with a bunch of friends, two of those people were the artists Dabs & Myla. On this journey of spray-paint, diner food, drinks with electrolytes, 1900+ channels on the T.V. and Disneyland — the guys decided that California was the place for them and moved there earlier this year. Recently I went back to see how their move to L.A. has affected their lives, their art, and their diet.
First off, can you describe your work for those who haven’t seen it?
Myla: Well... We always find it hard to describe, it kind of falls into Pop Surrealism or contemporary illustration. We are both trained illustrators and are both Graffiti Artists so there is a lot of influence from these two styles in our artwork. It has elements of our graffiti — in the form of bubbles, shapes, drips, etc — But it is based around illustrated characters and detailed photo realistic renderings. It’s the combination of these three elements that makes our paintings what they are. I’m not sure what category that comes under? But its art, and we enjoy making it!
So has the move from Australia influenced the style of work you are currently creating?
Myla: Definitely! Living in Los Angeles is a big change to the day-to-day comfort of Melbourne in so many different ways. The chaos of this city changes the way you feel and think, so since we have been here our work has got a little grimy—maybe developed a bit more edge. Our work has also become a bit looser in some ways, there’s a lot more noise in it. I’m sure L.A. has had some effect on that.
Do you think being a foreign artist in the States has affected your reception by their art scene?
Dabs: Americans, Californians in particular are definitely still very interested in Australians and Australia in general. I guess Crocodile Dundee really made a lasting impact here! We’re not sure if that affects the way we are received as artists, but the foreign and unknown always has a certain appeal to people... So it probably doesn’t hurt.
At what point did you realize you wanted to be artists, and what was the medium that made you decide?
Dabs: It was very different for the two of us, we have both been interested in drawing and art since we where small kids, but I had never really done any kind of painting or anything like that till maybe six years ago when I went back to school to study illustration. Before that I had never used a paintbrush or anything even like that, but I had been doing graffiti since I was a teenager, so I’d been painting with spray paint for a fair while prior to doing any fine art.
Myla: I started painting with oils and acrylics when I was a teenager. We met at art school where we both learnt a lot about how to apply all mediums. Our choice of paint is acrylic. It suits our style... And if we decide to paint over or change something it takes no time to dry!
Does your art convey any moral or hidden messages or is it purely for the viewers pleasure.
Myla: I’d love to say yes, it’s all very deep and thought out, expressing our views on politics and other grown up issues and serious arty stuff like that... But realistically its just a bit of fun, stuff that looks good and makes us smile! I guess there is a message behind each picture, but it’s usually something cute between the two of us, or something based on a song we are listening to at the time.
Who has influenced your work to date?
Dabs: A lot of different people and a lot of different styles! From the graffiti scene there’s Melbourne masters like Tame, New2, Cure and Puzle. And all the guys from our crew — Dvate, Askem, Race, Method and all the ADN–SDM family — as well as some of our good friend here in the states, Surge and all the MDR crew in San Diego, Rime, Persue and a lot of the MSK guys here in L.A. Smash, Can 2 and Dems from Europe are all big influences as well.
In Fine Art, people like Jeff Soto (that guy is the shit!), Greg Simkins, Mary Blair (she was an old school Disney legend, with a killer 50's style), just recently we’ve noticed the work of a guy called Carlos Ramos who is amazing. There are so many amazing artists here in the States and we are so lucky to be here and have the opportunity to see so much of their work in person.
You have an unbelievable work ethic, how do you stay motivated in the studio.
Myla: For us its very easy, we are both very serious about what we do and equally committed. When you have a partner who has the same drive and motivation and you enjoy each others company, it’s very easy to spend 12 hours a day together working and talking, listening to music and just enjoying each others company.
Last year we ended up eating lots of really unhealthy food, but this year you guys took me to many restaurants that served up seemingly healthy food. Is it hard to eat healthy in a city like L.A. that has some of the biggest food portions known to man?
Myla: There is loads of good healthy food here, but every week we get mad cravings for In ‘n Out Burger, giant chocolate chunk cookies, the donut shop downstairs and pancakes with bacon and maple syrup! We try to suppress all of this and eat something good. I think that’s what you witnessed.
How many Coke refills do you think you could drink with one meal?
Dabs: It’s hard to say, hypothetically if I didn’t give a shit about my teeth, I would imagine maybe 10 or 20! But since I do care I keep it to 2 or 3. It’s just so hard when they keep offering to fill it up!
Do you have any recommendations for artists trying to make it?
Dabs: Believe in yourself and work hard! I truly believe no matter what you do, if you’re an artist, a plumber or whatever. If you work hard and keep at it, push your self and hustle everyday, you will always see some success! There is a saying that we heard somewhere that has stuck with us for a while that we really love —"The harder I work, the luckier I get" — that says it all I think.
Dabs & Myla have a new exhibition – Golden Age which opens Friday 13th Novemeber at LA's New Puppy Gallery in conjuction with their show they've curated a special group show featuring work from the likes of Greg Simkins, Luke Cheuh, Logan Hicks and heaps check the flyer to the right of this post or visit New Puppy for details
Posted By: Lifelounge staff
Tags: Art, Graffiti, Exhibition, Street Art, Painting
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