Mediah Interview

What do you write? Where are you from? What crews do you rep?

Mediah: I write MEDIAH. I’m from North East Toronto. I rep HUG (history uleashes genius) and BX (breathing Xylene)

How did you first get started into doing graffiti?

Mediah: I got into graf back in 1994 while riding the Scarborough RT. At that time Scarborough was a hot spot for dope murals, illegal pieces and the sort. I would take the train every saturday and pay close attention to the new pieces on the vibe wall and the surrounding buildings. This was the beginning of Toronto’s prime era. The writers were innovative and competitive. If you weren’t skilled, your pieces wouldn’t last 24 hours. This really tickled my fancy, and caused me to become fully engulfed in the culture.

How long have you been doing graffiti for?

Mediah: I’ve been writing hard for 14 almost 15 years. I am nowhere close to oldschool in this city, but I have seen alot. I’ve seen legends rise, fall off and new ones born to do the same. Its sad, but interesting at the same time.

How would you describe your style of graffiti?

Mediah: I would describe my style as NEW-FUTURISM or dynamism. I focus primarily on dynamics and motion more so that simply writing my name in a cool font. All of my work pays respect to speed, motion, force, obliteration and reconstruction. I strive to have my burners, canvases, animations and graphics pull the viewer out of himself/herself. Much of my work has been influenced by a school of CANADIAN graffiti called ‘Mistakism’. I’m a mistakist along with crew members and friends of mine such as EVOKE, ELICSER, HOMESICK, PERU and others. I like static traditional graffiti…especially those who do it well, but for me and my house we will push boundaries.

How has your work evolved over the years?

Mediah: My work has taken some interesting turns throughout the few years I’ve been painting. At first I was all about the traditional bottom 3D with a forcefield graffiti but as I was in school for digital media and began to find influences outside of graf, I began to futurize and fragment my pieces more. Working in Illustrator in the 90’s really helped to develop my present style as did painting tons of 18 wheeler trucks in my private truck yards (which no longer exist). From there artists like ELICSER and WATER really influenced me to take my artwork into the contemporary realm while still keeping my graffiti aesthetic. Now my days are spent doing digital graphics, painting canvases, and rocking full scale burners all for one project. Interesting eh?!

What do you find influences you and your work?

Mediah: My primary influences are motion graphics, and the works of the Italian Futurist painters from the early 20th century. They believed in capturing the movement; all the steps in between an action instead of still life. They denounced static artwork of the past, and believed in burning figurative paintings and depictions because they were no longer applicable to the times. They were also Fascists….which I sure as heck am not. I’m also very influenced and inspired by nature. God’s artistic genius brings me to my knees, so I’m his artistic apprentice in this life.

You have the Decimals Rebuilt show opening Saturday, July 11 2009. What can we expect to see from it?

Mediah: Lol. In the DECIMALS REBUILT 416 arena, expect to be REBUILT. I’ve been working on these exhibitions for 2 years, and I’ve put EVERYTHING into them. You’ll see projected animations that are really experimental using digital, traditional and stop motion processes, about 35 paintings, prints and a fully painted graf style environment that everything is housed in. THIS IS MY BEST WORK TO DATE! I’m attempting to blow your mind. We’ll see how close I get.

How long will your art be on display at Function 13 gallery?

Mediah: It will be on display until August 3rd, so come check it while you can. You wont be disappointed.

Is there one particular piece from the show that you can call a favorite?

Mediah: Not a favorite, but the most demanding and disrepectful piece…YES! The newest set titled ‘REFLECTION BINARY’ has been a real burden to me. I was extremely difficult to build/paint and even more difficult to install. It gave me a 3rd degree burn on my finger, it cut me and left my blood in the artwork, it made so frustrated that I cried tears out of tiredness (and the tears are mixed with black in the piece), and one even fell off the wall and broke…just to make sure that I felt hard done by. Come see it, it’s my best set of paintings I’ve ever done.

You’ve recently done a bit of traveling with your art. Where all have you been?

Mediah: I’ve been a few places but not too many. I’ve brought REBUILT to Montreal, Winnipeg, Ottawa and now my home city, but I’ve painted productions and jams in Detroit, LA, San Diego, San francisco, Mexico, Germany. Rome, Milan, Naples, Oakland and so on. Like I said, a few places but not too many.

Who’s graffiti have you been feeling lately?

Mediah: I’m a big fan of the graf coming out of Montreal. I think its Canada’s best. ZEK, DFEK, STARE, ASTRO, and others. When I go to Montreal, I always feel that I need to step my style up a few levels. Its really good for my progression. Other than the Montreal writers, WATER, ELICSER, EVOKE, and some new kids coming up in Toronto MOZY and SOHO. They’re the next generation, so I watch and wait in anticipation.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

Mediah: A short animated film for DECIMALS REBULT called ‘Hinitaar bin Hinitaar’, more DECIMALS REBUILT installments in other cities and countries, and a ton of new burners in the second half of the year. My painting season doesn’t begin until July in recent years but gets really serious in September. It’s weird.

Do you have any last words for the Senses Lost readers?

Mediah: YES. PLEASE STOP COPYING NEW YORK AND LA. Some Graf writers in other parts of the World laugh at Canadian graf because overall we dont have our own identity. Be innovative and look to outside influences to contribute into graf. BE INNOVATIVE!!!!!!