Renowned for her colourful, bold street work, Takie moves indoors to open her first solo exhibition, It’s All Yours, tomorrow night at the Tate at the Toxteth. We catch up with the Sydney artist to get the lowdown on what went on behind-the-scenes during the creation of the show.
My name is… Takie
But I’m also known as… Takie
My latest exhibition is called… It’s All Yours
And it is about…this ride; the people and things that shaped it, a reaction to what’s happening around me, and my skitzy documentation of the familiar.
Some things that influenced this series are… everything that I was surrounded by, the objects people gave me to paint on, found pieces that needed a bit of love, my friends who dropped in for a chat and a tea, the reference books I found at St Vinnie’s and cars, lots & lots of old rides.
An album I listened to a stack when making the works was… Mobb Deep was on the highest rotation – Hell on Earth and The Infamous
The time of day I’m most likely to make art is… after a whole day in the studio and a lull in the afternoon I seem to get a second wind when night falls, I can keep smashing it for a while after that.
The hardest part of putting this show together was…ignoring logic, silencing the doubt and just going with the gut. I gave up a lot for this opportunity so I just want to give it all I’ve got.
First thing I do when I get up in the morning is… Instagram, slightly addicted, I love that instantly I can see what every artist I admire is creating at any one time no matter where they are in the world. I would have to look at 50 blogs to gather the same information I can find in two minutes on my phone.
Some other artists I have been enjoying the work of are… Yok, Kevin Lyons, Os Geomeos, Ears, Lister, Conor Harrington, I could go on for days…
What I’m working on at the moment is… finishing off the last pieces for my exhibition, one of which is an installation that will take up a corner of the space, it’s a little window into the saturating dedication preparing for a show has on your life.
My favourite colour is… a collection of bold bright batons I use in all my work; orange, red, blue and yellow, I couldn’t restrain myself to just one. The more the merrier.
If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing, I’d be… getting lost somewhere on the other side of the world, Central & South American seem to be calling my name pretty loudly at the moment.
The last website I visited was… The Opening Hours – it’s the definitive guide to what I should be looking at in Sydney.
My favourite youtube vid is…
The links I click on always lead to Vimeo, taking a minute to watch my favorite artists hard at it is a pretty rad way to feel the rush of inspiration again.
Tomorrow I will be…doing more of the same: wake, eat, studio, exhibition opening, take flics, sleep. Repeat. :)
It’s All Yours
Takie
The Tate at The Toxteth
345 Glebe Pt Road, Glebe NSW
Opens Wed 15th August, 6pm
Until Sun 19th August