What is your favorite color, do you use it a lot in your work? Black. N! uses black quite often. In the world of aerosol there are many versions of black each with different qualities, in N!'s work Black has a tendency to register with the viewer as "background" or function as "outline" when it is simply another colour devoid of chromatic information.
How long have you been making this style of artwork? N! has been exploring the use of aerosol spray as a mark making tool for nearly 40 years. Although conceptually intended to simply be a vehicle for action figures, the first object he abused with this technique was elevated to "artwork" status by his mother at the age of six. The piece in question adorned the facade of two additional residences before succumbing to rot.
In 1988 N! embarked on an educational journey and, after receiving degrees from two distinguished artistic institutions returned to South Florida. So, does this make N! a "native", a "transplant" or simply a "transplanted native"?
Why you like Day of the Dead or skulls or skeletons? Dia de los Muertos has had a strong resonance to N! presumably due to a past that included pre-natal trips south of the border and conception in San Miguel de Allende. After a childhood surrounded by eclectic artwork and artifacts that his parents culled from sources around the globe N! began to create his own artistic nomenclature.
An interest in Ghost Rider, Dungeons and Dragons and Ray Harryhausen lead to collecting skateboard graphics, concert fliers and punk rock t-shirts. The pervasive elements were always skeletons and skulls as long as N! can remember. As N! puts it, "Some of us were just born into it.".
