Q. Ben Warwick
A. PaperMonster

1. Please introduce yourself to our community (as much detail as you wish and where/if appropriate).

My name is PaperMonster and I am a stencil graffiti artists. My art touches on the beauty, mystery, and complex qualities of women. I stumbled into stencil graffiti by accident when I first tried to create a stencil of a cartoon character that I drew. Through time my style has evolved into what you see today. One of the most exciting parts of my art is that you can have a great time interacting with my paintings. You can look at a painting and explore it closely and it can bring a whole new range of emotions than you would get from just looking at the painting from a distance.

2. You describe yourself as a stencil graffiti artist, would you like to expand on this description to help negate any preconceptions a reader may have.

The term “stencil graffiti artist” has evolved. There is now a whole new group of artists who do work at both the street and gallery level. This means that as PaperMonster I create works whether they are murals, stickers, or installed art in the street for the mass public to see and at the same time I create works and paintings that are only available at a gallery. They are two separate worlds and demand different ways of thinking. As a stencil graffiti artist my goal is to push and be innovative in terms of what I create in order to change the perception that many people have of stencil art or graffiti in general. If you have no clue what stencil graffiti is, I am glad that my work is your first experience because I hope it sets a high standard and I want you to share it with everyone you know. We may be considered vandals but our intentions are to express ourselves, motivate, inspire, and continue a movement of beauty and skill that will outlive our generation and future generations to come.

3. For those un-aware of how stencil graffiti art has evolved, please describe the methods and techniques you incorporate in you work (Laser engraving, Computer aided design, industrial tools etc…).

The first stencil in history was the hand. “Cavemen” would take paint pigments in water into their mouths, place their hands on cave walls and spit over their hands. The results were hundreds of hand outlines. Stencil graffiti art is one of the most cost effective art forms to get into. You do not need much to start. There is no need for fancy fifteen dollar brushes or twenty dollar watercolour sets. All you need is paper, a knife and a can of paint that can cost you as low as 99 cents (if you know where to find it.) I have taken the basic stencil art techniques and turned them into my own style. Using stencils, patterns, texture, paper, collage techniques, and spraypaint I am able to really turn nothing into something. Certain people use programs such as Photoshop or other computer aids to help in their design but I only use my eyes. For stencil artists your eyes are the most valuable tool you have. I trained my eyes to look at any image whether it is an object, person, or animal and use lines and simple shapes to recreate the object as a stencil. I remember driving in a car and looking out of my window and imagining how I could turn everything around me into a stencil whether it was a fire hydrant, a store front, or trees into stencils. I think new technology is an aid. It does not make you stand out if all you do is replicate a computer created stencil. You need to have more. Something that makes you stand out from all of the thousands of stencil artists in the world. What do you create and why are you creating it?

4. Graffiti art as a whole has become more commercial and globally accepted in recent years, how has this affected your approach to your work? Has commercial possibilities completely over taken any initial philosophy/passion that drew you into graffiti art?

I feel that my passion for graffiti art and urban art in general is stronger than ever. Before I was ever an artist I was first a fan. I am actually still a huge fan of where we are progressing and pushing our field. The commercial value of our work is a double edge sword. It allows us to gain more creative opportunities and helps us reach audiences that we could never reach on our own. At the same time if your only goal is fame and fortune then your work is bound to lose value over time. The demand itself will push you away from quality and the power behind your work can be lost. I create pieces that are one of a kind. No two paintings are the same and no stencil is used excessively without changing and evolving the stencil into something new or better than the previous time I used it. It would be great to be paid thousands for projects and collaborations but my name (PaperMonster) is worth more than any check I could ever get for any project. It lives after I die and after I stop painting. It is a very delicate line we walk when as artists we want attention and recognition but the quality and innovation of our work has to be consistent.

5. What is the core approach to your work? What’s the driving force behind your artwork (Political, Passion, Rebellion etc…)?

I come into making new paintings with a huge mix of ideas. I have concepts that are like recurring dreams of things that I want to make. Usually I create many different stencils at one time. I choose the ones I feel are the best they get made into paintings. The driving force behind my work is pure passion for beauty and detail. I always want to outdo what I created in the past and make something that will surprise people. I find it sometimes hard to not see a mistake in my paintings. It takes a lot for me to say something is perfect. The best feeling is that when you recognize that something is exactly how you want it and it immediately makes your heart jump. You don’t want to touch it, or anyone to even breathe on the painting. The whole process is about learning each time from start to finish. You sharpen your skills and bring what you learned from the previous painting to the next. Beauty is a delicate balance between chaos and order. I am always trying to find that balance.

Part two can be found here.

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