Highlights Tv - Ligisd [wufc, fy] interview

I became so depressed in Sweden because the swedish way of life is very boring and very forbidden. it's like you're not allowed to do anything, you have no freedoms here. Everything is about getting money, buying stuff... It's all about consumption. There is no interesting cultural life. I think that Stockholm is one of the most boring cities there is... Therefor I just felt I hade to get away from Sweden because if I wouldn't have left I think that I would have ended up in jail or started with pills or something like that... It was a emergency solution just to get away from Sweden. That's why I went to South America. I'm an artistic soul you know. I have always been painting. When I went to daycare I drew cars and indians or whatever you paint as a kid. So being creative is something very natural for me. I think that 80 percent of all my friends I got to know through the graffiti culture since we all have something in common. Wherever I choose to travel in the world there is someone offering me a place to stay where I can feel welcome and all of that thanks to the graffiti. Everything I do is thanks to the graffiti. I wouldn't be the same person that I am today if I hadn't started painting graffiti. I have been one of those persons who have had access to a lot of graffiti materials and a lot of good mentors when I grew up So I think that is how the graffiticulture became a part of my life. There wasn't much else to do for a suburban kid out in the suburbs... I mean, if you don't do any sports you get bored quite easily... so I needed something to do in my spare time... Since I've always enjoyed painting and being fond of colors and the graffiti community was really nice I simply got stuck in the graffiticulture and I still am today. All of the magic happens by the wall... I don't plan which colors to use or stuff like that... I do have some thoughts on how to implement my piece but i'm very open to new ideas, influences and things that I think of when I'm standing there ready to paint... And since I don't use any sketch while painting and I don't know how I should put the colors my pieces always ends up in kind of like a suprise in how it looks when I'm finished. And that is something I really like about not using a sketch... I have been interested in starting tattooing for a long time but in Sweden it has been kind of hard to come across good equipment and so on. But when I went to South America everything became so much easier. A lot of the graffiti writers over there are tattoo artists And thanks to that I got in contact with some very good tattoo artists almost immediately when I got there. So I had some very talented people helping me and teaching me how to tattoo.. The people in South America are very generous with their information and with their knowledge. So it's very different over there in comparison to how it is here in Sweden... Here it's more like people want to keep their knowledge to them self and that they are afraid helping others out since they might think that others will just walk in and take over just because they are insecure in themselves. So i'm really glad that I got to know so much about tattooing when I lived in South America. I got to know quite much about tattooing over there during a quite small amount of time... In South America I learned a lot about how you can see graffiti in different ways and in different perspectives. It made me think about graffiti in a different way than I had done before. It made me think outside the box. You become part of a completely different culture and you get to take note of their way of life and what they find important etc. And that is when I think that you can see that if you have a different way of life it will appear in your art. Within all creative professions you have an advantage if you've been doing something creative before. It's all about being able to think in a creative way. You have to learn how to take initiative... As a graffiti artist for an example, there is no one who will come to you and tell you which walls to paint... You always have to come up with the ideas of which walls to paint by yourself... And since you always have to come up with the ideas by yourself I think that gives you an other way of thinking which is good... And to become a good tattoo artist I think that you need that ability to think in another way and to be able to push yourself forward to keep getting better and better... Because you can't just sit there and think that someone will teach you everything. It doesn't work that way...You always have to hungry for new knowledge and new techniques to become a good tattoo artist. What I find interesting when it comes to my graffiti is to explore it in such a way that makes me able to affect the people looking at it. I want to affect them more than just visually... I want to get inside of their minds and affecting them by using the right colors and shapes. I want the shapes of my letters to make the audience refer to their own fantasies and to make them get their own ideas of what my graffiti looks like. I find it inspiring to see others paint in groups and being able to paint these gigantic pieces that will influence and affect a whole town. That really inspires me. I think that is really cool.