MTN AUSTRALIA: INTERVIEW WITH JOHN KAYE

Our brothers from Montana Colors Australia have interviewed John Kaye. The artistic projection as a graffiti writer has led him to focus a lot of his energy on studio work by sculpting an increasingly pictorial style during the latest years. He is undoubtedly at a point in his career that is very interesting to take a closer look at.

Name: John Kaye
Country: Australia
Favourite surface: Metal and Canvas

-What got you started in graffiti/street art, was there a particular artist/person who motivated you to start or inspired you to pick up a can?
At first I just noticed things and was just intrigued by it, I was catching the train around a lot at a pretty young age to go skating and the lines were covered in pieces at that time. I started paying more and more attention to graffiti until eventually my friends and I started trying to figure it all out ourselves. A few friends I already knew had a head start and we reconnected and they showed me a lot. It felt exciting and we all sort of had no idea what we were doing but it felt like we were figuring it out together and that created some sort of energy that was exciting and addictive for a while.

-Are you painting for pleasure, or do you have a purpose or goal to achieve with your art?
Sometimes it brings some pleasure. Mostly though I paint because I feel like the act of bringing an idea or thought or whatever it is into physical existence is important, it feels important to me anyway. There are lots of different purposes and goals and they change constantly and maybe I create some of them to justify things I do to myself but painting and art or whatever it is, has always been something i’ve come back to and felt like I need to do. It keeps my feet on the ground.

-How often do you find yourself painting, and what is the most enjoyable subject matter for you to paint?
That kind of changes depending on where I am and what im working on. I pretty much work on something every day though in some way. I paint things that relate to my life or experiences in an abstract way, I like trying to play with the line between making things personal while being relatable.

-If you could paint with any artist right now, who would you want to team up with?
It’s hard to paint with strangers sometimes, I like working with my friends but mostly i prefer to work alone. If i could just sit down with someone though it would be cool to talk to Phillip Guston, Jay-z or Caravaggio.

-In your opinion, what artists do you think are killing it atm?
I like Rhys Lee‘s new paintings and Erin Riley‘s work.

-Whats your favourite surface to paint?
Canvas and metal.

-Whats your favourite/most used cap?
I’m really unorganized with that stuff, I always forget to buy them or if I do I end up misplacing them, I usually just use whatever I can find and it works ok. New york fat caps are good though.

-What is your perfect painting day? / what was your worst painting experience?
Perfect painting day would just be one where I surprise myself and I am happy with something I make, The sun and good company are always nice too if its a wall or some time in the studio that feels productive is a win. As for the worst experience, I’ve had a lot of bad things happen but they are always good lessons.

-You have one choice of paint, MTN 94 / MEGA / Hardcore / Water Based – which will you choose?
Water Based.

-If you could choose anywhere to paint, where would you go?
If I could not die and come home afterwards, another planet would be fun.

-What soundtracks you got bopping while you paint? Can you list 5 tracks to share with the MTN family?
All of Nocturnal – Heltah Skeltah
Pissing blood – Shogun and the sheets
Cold Summer – Georgia Maq
Warpath Never Ended – Dispossessed
Water – CIFIKA