Born James Choules in London, 1969, SHEONE has been emptying spraycans and making graffiti for over twenty years.
Sidelining the usual multicolored pictorial approach to graffiti painting, SHEONE instead focuses on the visual language of typography and the expressive possibilities of his tag (his name) as a subject by re-rendering abstracted hand drawn lettering. Data injected splats, overspray and accurate spills relay an emotional slang mapped out in a highly personal shorthand.
In recent years, he has managed to successfully translate the energy and scale of illegal street paintings into the well-lit confines of the gallery, creating site-specific installations and exhibitions while simultaneously forging a subtle invasion into the fashion world through collaboration, self-branded products and one-off pieces.
SheOnes website
SheOnes photo journal (I recommend subscribing to this)
.
.
Looking at your work I find I’m drawn as much to the open spaces between your letters as I am to the form of each character. Are these realms of suggestion something you are conscious of when you paint?
Absolutely, it’s always about the whole, complete image. I imagine a balance between ambience and information, neither is more or less important. This is more apparent in my canvas and live paint works but actually comes from my street graffiti because there is a vital challenge to present a piece in its relevant environment.
.
There’s a sparseness and simplicity to your linework that’s reminiscent of Eastern calligraphy. Has Eastern art had a pronounced influence over your work?
Not a deliberate influence, but I became interested in Japanese architecture and interiors, which again is about the harmony between space and detail.
One of the great things about painting is it transcends language and when I have travelled to Japan, Hong Kong and Taipei to exhibit work I get really interesting feedback and interpretation, they have a very different perspective on what my works are about compared to a western view which is rooted more directly to the culture of the painting rather than the expression or the feeling of the works.
I prefer taking my works to Asia because in a sense I feel like it is being set free.
.
What relationship do you have with the ‘street art’ world or hip-hop culture generally? You seem very much like someone who is guided by influences without feeling the need to subscribe to any one identity or line of thought. Do you think that subcultures fulfil an important role as cultural vanguards or are they inevitably insular and prone to cliché?
I was listening to heavy metal when I started writing graffiti. Graffiti has always been about designing typography and then presenting that in painting. Its a fairly simple practice invented by teenagers in New York, before the invention of rap music and utilising tools appropriate for the job.
If you read Subway Art (the blueprint of western graffiti) it is littered with references to Led Zeppelin, The Beatles even Black Sabbath. I like the idea of Bronx teenagers getting amped up on British rock and then going and painting subway cars, it makes perfect sense. Nothing says heavy metal like a subway car.
I have only ever been guided by making work that I want to see, I think its my job to make something that hasn’t been seen before and that would not be possible if I subscribed to an assumed argot or cultural remit.
Do you feel that you have finally consolidated your abstract style or is it something that hangs in constant flux? How hard is it to be inventive when your signature style is so sharp and distinctive?
Having a signature style throws up two problems when making new works which are, how far do I stray from that and am I repeating myself. Both of which are creatively essential but also completely unnecessary.
To be honest, I just make what makes me happy. If one tries to analyse works from the point of the viewer or second guess what one thinks people want to see then the focus is lost. I definitely wouldn’t say it is consolidated, if it was I would have nothing left to do.
.
.
I read that you’re into hot rods and custom cars… what sparked this interest? Have you had a chance to combine this passion with your art?
My father used to take me drag racing and to hot rod meets when I was a kid, so that fascination started very young. Its a gut feeling, hot metal, modified cars, smell of the oil, custom paint, the whole atmosphere around that is very intoxicating and believe it or not some of that feeling goes into my painting.
The parallels between hot rodding and graffiti are strikingly similar, both started by American teenagers searching for identity through creative rebellion. My plans to build a British rat rod are still on the drawing board, I’m saving them for my mid-life crisis project.
