Today we’d like to introduce you to Miles Wickham.
Hi Miles, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Jax but lived in Naples, Italy from age 1-7. I lived in a building overlooking a train station so I got to see graffiti on trains as a kid without realizing it. My grandmas siister that lives with us was an abstract and figurativepainter and had paintings all over the house. I always drew and painted as a kid. When I was in high school in Brooklyn Ny i saw a kid tagging something in gym class. He noticed and asked if i did graffiti. Basically that started our friendship and my journey into graffiti. I didnt know anything about it prior but something drew me in no pun intended. Over the next 5 years I became obsessed with graffiti and the culture, including hip hop. I was back and forth between nyc and jax and got a lot of my practice on walls in at the back of 5 Points when it was the local legal graffiti spot. I ran into some of the most prolific taggers in nyc one night in 2006 and got taken under their wing because they had seen what i had been doing and had respect for the way i painted. After getting into some trouble for tagging, i put myself on a path of self reflection to better myself through books and therapy. I lost the urge to tag and decided to go on an exploration of abstract art with the intention of learning though trial and error and discovering everything on my own. I was always against schooling because I wanted my artistic expression to be as purely my own with no influences of how it ” should be done”. When i did graffiti I had the intention of creating quality work even when it was high output,, and i kept that intention throughout. In 2012 I was commissioned to do murals in a condo building created out of an old industrial factory, they asked me to create a combo of a couple of styles in my portfolio, which then became my new original style you see me often do with the robbin-like overlapping transparent lines. The process to these is similar to that of graffiti where you begin with a shape and then decide how the next shape will be based off the first one. It is similar to dancing to music, moving how the music makes you feel, creating shapes with your body in the moment with no forethought.
In my roughly 25 years in nyc i did many commissioned murals, painted vehicles, designer handbags , done bodypaining, taught art and was part of some big group shows like Writers Strike at the Lott Gallery in Chelsea, i was also a teaching artist in some homeschool coops working with kids on the soectrum which I also did ith no training. besides art I love to surf, skateboard, rollerblade and I love traditional martial arts which I have been practicing for almost 20 years.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No. Being a graffiti artist in ny was rewarding but a lot of work, almost a full time job at one point.
Getting arrested for it and going through a long drawn out court case where I was facing potential prison time for tagging was stressful. That went on for more than a year.
Putting myself out there repeatedly trying to get into shows and being rejected is tough especially after seeing the caliber of work that would get picked many times. Trying to sell work on my own and getting few sales has also been discouraging. Its hard to know what will work and the more energy I put into trying to sell , the less I have to actually create what I want.
Balancing work and art is also hard as work can be draining. I drive a semi truck now 50+ hours a week.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Im known for graffiti and abstract art. I paint in acrylics, spraypaint and oils mainly. Im known in nyc for my street graffiti and my history there. I am known on Youtube for my graffiti turorials i began in 2010. They were the first comprehensive foundational videos out there before it became mainstream.
Im known for painting really fast without a plan or sketch. For my use of vibrant colors, making many any combo of colors work together, and for my unique abstract style that has a graffiti feel to it.
My goal in painting is to be so present in the moment that I create spontaneously and put life into the canvas so the viewer feels something when they look at it
What were you like growing up?
I was pretty quiet and shy except around my close friends. Always been a non conformist. I was a skater, i liked to dress street/grundgy. Always wanted to do things my way and had a good reason for it. I always believed we shouldnt just do things because were told we should, but because we understand the reason for doing it in great depth so that it makes sense to do it.
Pricing:
- Prices negotiable/ sliding scale
- Paintings from $10-$5000
- Murals from $300-@1500 for small scale office/ bedroom etc
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/reskew
- Youtube: https://Youtube.com/mileswickham
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MilesWickham
