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Beatfox
Who has had the biggest influence on your journey as an artist, and what did they teach you?
I can’t say one specific name that is my biggest influence, but I have taken inspiration through the years from so many. I have admiration for artists such as Mau Mau, Jim Vision, and Mayonaize. Each one of these artists has completely different styles and attributes in what their art shows.
How did you first discover street art, and can you remember the moment you knew it was something you wanted to pursue?
One of my first encounters with street art was ‘Mighty Mo’ and it was on a roof top. I was around 6/7 years old and this image burned itself into my brain. I wondered how it got there when it wasn’t there before. I also remember going to primary school around the same time, seeing a big chrome piece and I was just as fascinated to how it was so big and appeared overnight. I had always enjoyed creating things or drawing, sketching, painting. Street art wasn’t what I was looking for. Being dyslexic my handwriting was terrible and seemed a challenge, but my hand style for graffiti was the opposite. The flow, the motion, capital letter in the middle of a word was now something to be celebrated not mocked. This is what drew me to the artform.
What makes the street art community different from any other creative community you've experienced?
Having come from a beatboxing background, I’m used to niche creative circles. It’s a very experimental and welcoming subculture. You can step in at any level (expert or beginner). You have to make mistakes to learn and sometimes seek out techniques that work for you. Same with art and graffiti. You might see something and have no idea how to approach it. The element of freestyling creativity is what’s exciting. Working to a space or adjusting for a collaboration. Music and art build the foundation for community. Celebrating culture through colours.
What has to come together for you to create your best work - whether it's a place, a feeling, the people around you, or something else?
For me, I’m my biggest critic. I’m not sure my best work exists yet. Every big piece is painted with some intention or emotion fused into the paint. It usually takes a week to reflect and look back on some big accomplishments to digest it, but each one just sets the benchmark for the next.
What's a piece you've created that means more to you than anyone else might realise?
There’s a piece of mine in Shoreditch, Southeast London. This one means quite a lot to me as it was the one of first times that I went out solo to create a calligraphy wall. Just me, a speaker, and some paint. Using a Lime bike as a ladder I filled all the space I wanted. It’s been there for quite a few years now, in a space that’s heavily graffitied and always changing. For me, the fact the piece is still there humbles me, showing that it’s been accepted as something that should last when others get painted over.
What do you hope people feel when they stand in front of your work?
My work has so many different types and styles all I want is, in my opinion I want it to enhance the space.
If you could leave one message on a wall for the world to see, what would it say?
RIP MINA