Stinkfish - The Colombian Wonderer - I Support Street ArtI Support Street Art

Stinkfish – The Colombian Wonderer

We’ve got closer to a street legend from the underworld! Top Colombian graffiti artist Stinkfish, recently spoke out to ISSA, revealing the personality and the ideas within this mysterious artist. We see him as a symbol of independence and freedom, he travels the World and shows up in some of the most unexpected places. Simply Wild! Read on and this quick dive, into the mind of this genuine rebel artist, will make you see the world from his eyes!

(ISSA)-What do you choose to drink Stikfish? Coffee, Tea, Beer, Soda or something else?

(Sinkfish) Water!

-Introduce yourself to us!

Stinkfish / Quetzal / Knits / Hate / member of Animal Power Culture crew (APC) and Hogar.

– Where does your tag name come from?

I use Stinkfish from my youth, basically influenced by friends, street and music that I always liked.

-How do you define yourself? Artist? Street artist? Anything else?

I feel comfortable working for the concept of graffiti, basically by the principles of independence, anonymity, freedom and illegality.

– How did it all start for you, and what is it nowadays?

I started around 2003, I always liked to walk in the streets, see what happens out there, with my friends from that time one thing led to another. It was something natural, without knowing anyone doing graffiti in that moment, we decided to put something in the street and see what happened.

-What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Take a shower

-Street art is mostly a visually stimulating form of art. To add one more sense to it, what music would you pick to accompany your art work?

Painting in the street I never listen music, I like the noise of the street, hear the people, the traffic, sometimes random talks. But music is important at other moments of my work. I listen different genres, but always is there some punk, ska, rockabilly, rap…

-In all forms of art, inspiration is crucial. What inspires you?

I do not believe in the idea of “inspiration.” I believe in the influences, references, accidents, mistakes, life itself. Almost everything is there on the street, just simply go for a walk and stop to see a little how it goes on a typical day.

-Before going to paint, what is on your check list to take along?

It depends, sometimes it’s just a crayon in the pocket in a day of tags, sometimes a bucket of wheat paste and posters, sometimes a bag full of spray cans, caps, stencils, tape, rollers, water base paint, ladder and pole extensor.

And of course always my camera.

-Do you have an artist you admire and what for?

Like the work of many people, but I always like to name the work of my crew, APC. And of course the anonymous work of all the people out there building the street, doing tags, putting up posters, stickers, walking, surviving.

-Which cities do you think are the most inspirational in Graffiti?

All the cities have a lot to see and to do in their street, some cities are magic about the large amount of graffiti you see in the streets, like Berlin, London, Paris, Mexico City, Bogota and New York. But in other hand, some cities are magic because you not see much graffiti in the street, it’s a completely new experience, some of the ones I’ve gone: Kathmandu, Delhi, San Andres Island, Phnom Penh, Djerba.

-Do you have other passions apart from art?
Apart graffiti, I walk a lot in the streets… but this again is an important part of my work with graffiti.

-What is your wildest project that you dream of achieving some day?

I do not have that kind of “dreams” or projects.

-Does your art include symbolisms, messages or repeated patterns?

The most important and strong message of all my graffiti is a clear message of independence, anonymity, freedom and illegality. For me that´s the important thing in all this work and community.

Regarding the portraits I do, the idea is to speak about the importance of common people, like you, like me, like everyone in the common life, far away from the false world of the “famous” and “important” people of this system.

-What is your reaction when you realise someone has vandalised your creation?

It´s part of graffiti, vandalise it´s important, not only inside the graffiti, or graffiti over graffiti, in all the society, it´s the possibility of speak without all this stupid and false rules.