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By Sam Parker. |
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Portfolio - Mixed Media - Sam Parker
Atlanta artist Sam Parker is a master of materials, being able to move between skin, walls and canvas with ease. Currently working as a tattooist, Parker spends his off-hours painting and drawing, be it on the side of a building, or on the heavy smoothness of a fresh canvas, pulling in a variety of influences that melds into his distinguishable style.
Parker regularly shows in Atlanta, and you can find him at East Atlanta Tattoo, where he works. To view his portfolio, click here. To read the interview, which includes some interesting connections between tattooing and graffiti.
Pine Magazine: Can you tell us a little bit about your background, as well as your current work?
Sam Parker: [I'm] 31. Born in South Minneapolis. Moved to Atlanta in '95. Been painting and drawing since I can remember. Started writing graffiti in the late '80s, Tattooing since '93. Have a BFA in drawing and painting. My current work is a synthesis of all my previous influences (tattooing, graffiti, art school, etc.) I borrow a lot images from around the world as well as pop culture images. I borrow a lot of themes from western mythology and philosophy.
PM: Beyond skin, what medium do you most often use?
SP: My most recent work, which is not represented in this portfolio, is mostly mixed media, collage, acrylic, and found objects. I am also proficient with oil paint, watercolor, airbrush, and aerosol paint.
PM: How do you feel your work as a tattoo artist has affected your style as an artist?
SP: My tattooing has informed my paintings in many ways. Compositionally, I am always looking for maximum graphic punch and readability. Most of my paintings have an Iconic feel to them similar to religious images or an American flag in tattooing. Subject matter wise I paint a lot of Asian imagery as well as hearts and skulls classic icons.
PM: How do you see your style progressing in the future?
SP: I hope to continue pushing the mixed media work blending a smoother presentation between tattoo, graffiti, graphics and fine arts. My plan is to do conceptually more evocative pieces that can be simultaneously enjoyed by the uneducated viewer as well as those who have been indoctrinated by a higher education.
PM: Can you tell me about your graffiti... how'd you get started tagging stuff, and how does working with aerosol -- generally considered an imperfect medium -- affect your work with more tedious mediums, if that is the case for you?
SP: When I was 9 or 10 I started seeing a different type of graffiti around the neighborhood. It wasn't like gang graffiti some of them where large full color murals. The first mural I remember was an illegal burner on the back of my elementary school. It said RODAN in large colorful letters and there was a mushroom cloud coming out of the top of it. Then I saw another one by RODAN on the back of the future high school I would go to. It was the same letters but there was a Phoenix rising out of it. When I saw these I knew that some day I do the same thing. That was around '84 or '85. My older brother was down with a bunch of the older writers and he wrote graffiti in the late eighties. We would go out together sometimes and get up. He was in the biggest crew in Minneapolis called PTC Prime Time Crime. I was too young to be in PTC. It was a couple of years before I got put down in a dope crew called SMA Societies Modern Artists. It wasn't until the early 90's that got put down in the crew that I am in now AKB, All Kings, And we've been doing stuff together as a collective ever since.
Aerosol is as perfect or imperfect as you make it. It depends on what you are doing. If you are doing illegal freeway spots and time is a precious commodity it will be less precise than if you are painting a mural on a permission wall and you can spend all week on it. I think the illegal aspects of graffiti have carried over into my canvas work and tattooing in that I try to make every motion count. Every stroke hits the mark the first time.
Parker regularly shows in Atlanta, and you can find him at East Atlanta Tattoo, where he works. To view his portfolio, click here. To read the interview, which includes some interesting connections between tattooing and graffiti.
Pine Magazine: Can you tell us a little bit about your background, as well as your current work?
Sam Parker: [I'm] 31. Born in South Minneapolis. Moved to Atlanta in '95. Been painting and drawing since I can remember. Started writing graffiti in the late '80s, Tattooing since '93. Have a BFA in drawing and painting. My current work is a synthesis of all my previous influences (tattooing, graffiti, art school, etc.) I borrow a lot images from around the world as well as pop culture images. I borrow a lot of themes from western mythology and philosophy.
PM: Beyond skin, what medium do you most often use?
SP: My most recent work, which is not represented in this portfolio, is mostly mixed media, collage, acrylic, and found objects. I am also proficient with oil paint, watercolor, airbrush, and aerosol paint.
PM: How do you feel your work as a tattoo artist has affected your style as an artist?
SP: My tattooing has informed my paintings in many ways. Compositionally, I am always looking for maximum graphic punch and readability. Most of my paintings have an Iconic feel to them similar to religious images or an American flag in tattooing. Subject matter wise I paint a lot of Asian imagery as well as hearts and skulls classic icons.
PM: How do you see your style progressing in the future?
SP: I hope to continue pushing the mixed media work blending a smoother presentation between tattoo, graffiti, graphics and fine arts. My plan is to do conceptually more evocative pieces that can be simultaneously enjoyed by the uneducated viewer as well as those who have been indoctrinated by a higher education.
PM: Can you tell me about your graffiti... how'd you get started tagging stuff, and how does working with aerosol -- generally considered an imperfect medium -- affect your work with more tedious mediums, if that is the case for you?
SP: When I was 9 or 10 I started seeing a different type of graffiti around the neighborhood. It wasn't like gang graffiti some of them where large full color murals. The first mural I remember was an illegal burner on the back of my elementary school. It said RODAN in large colorful letters and there was a mushroom cloud coming out of the top of it. Then I saw another one by RODAN on the back of the future high school I would go to. It was the same letters but there was a Phoenix rising out of it. When I saw these I knew that some day I do the same thing. That was around '84 or '85. My older brother was down with a bunch of the older writers and he wrote graffiti in the late eighties. We would go out together sometimes and get up. He was in the biggest crew in Minneapolis called PTC Prime Time Crime. I was too young to be in PTC. It was a couple of years before I got put down in a dope crew called SMA Societies Modern Artists. It wasn't until the early 90's that got put down in the crew that I am in now AKB, All Kings, And we've been doing stuff together as a collective ever since.
Aerosol is as perfect or imperfect as you make it. It depends on what you are doing. If you are doing illegal freeway spots and time is a precious commodity it will be less precise than if you are painting a mural on a permission wall and you can spend all week on it. I think the illegal aspects of graffiti have carried over into my canvas work and tattooing in that I try to make every motion count. Every stroke hits the mark the first time.
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