dirfish is an upcoming thirty-something artist who has had two solo exhibitions (2006 and 2007), been an exhibiting artist at Tusk Gallery in Chapel Street (2006-08), been a regular standholder at the Botanic Gardens Market (2006-07) and the Rose Street Artists Market (2007-08), had three appearances at Art Melbourne (2007, 2008 and 2009), and a successful interstate debut at Art Sydney (2008).
Emerging from the rich Melbourne street-art culture, dirtfish paintings draw upon a range of influences including stencil graffiti, comics, graphic design and pop art, just to name a few. Although the paintings evoke shared childhood experiences, a dark, sometimes sinister edge to the work stops the art from being sickly sweet. The enigmatic cloudsellers and friends have been joined by a cast of new characters as their world constantly grows and evolves.
dirtfish paintings are created on high quality Italian linen stretched over hardwood frames. Each painting is original (we do not sell prints). Prices range from $250 to over $2000. dirtfish has recently produced a collection of diy designer toys. The toys range in price from $250 to $550.
about me and my paintings
I've always loved art and have been painting since I was little. Studying and working as a graphic designer took priority for a time, but a few years ago I moved house, the walls were bland and I took the opportunity to return to painting. After lots of experimentation I came up with a new style and it has continued to evolve from there.
My paintings are a mixture of comics, pop-art and graphic design and I've created kooky little characters to populate this dream-world. In some ways I see the paintings as a television show or a play where, like a director, I get to move the characters around in the paintings as well as constructing their environment. I am influenced by graffiti and street art, where different artists work on different pieces that all come together on the same wall.
In the first part of my process, I create the structure of my artwork on computer. Drawing upon my experience as a graphic designer, I like to line things up and make things highly structured. Once I transfer my designs onto the canvas, the other side of my personality, the destructive side, gets its turn as I build on top of and tear into that order.
I like things to feel a little off-balance. Sometimes I'll just turn something upside-down and then it will work. I guess it's about having the ability to try something and see if it works, realise when it does, and stick with it in the painting.
I think that my use of colour and the simplistic way that I draw the characters helps to give the paintings a child-like quality, but usually there's an undertone of something darker, a looming shadow or something slightly scary and I like that conflict.
