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How did you first enter the art world?

I have always painted, ever since my existence on this planet Earth so I like to think I have always been a part of this art world universe, but officially when people [first] put down money for my art was 2005 when I participated in an Art show called ArtBeatz, held at the infamous Disruptive Gallery in Auckland (which unfortunately no longer exists). There was such a good response to what I always do in private, so I figured “well let me pursue this”. Originally my plan was to go out and do Graphic Design, which I studied for and gained a bachelor [Bachelor of Arts]. I freelanced for a bit and also worked full time as a graphic artist but all the while I would do my art on the side, small shows here and there. I think when it really picked up for me was when people in the States started taking notice, so I guess it has been stepping-stones all the way.

Do you describe yourself as a graffiti artist?

I personally wouldn’t describe myself as a graffiti artist although I work with graffiti artists and some of my very close friends are graffiti artists. Even though from time to time I paint on walls, I mainly paint on canvas or on paper. However I enjoy painting on walls and at a very large scale the most, I find this the most exciting of all, it’s kind of a hard one to answer because I’m not out everyday putting myself on the line to go out and paint and what I paint is very different, I guess the best way to put it is that- I just do what I feel and I’m not really thinking about whether or not I’m part of any art movement. I want to grow and expand into new levels of creativity and not be labelled. On the flipside I’m a new form of graffiti artist.

When did you move towards the use of mostly black and white in your artworks?

I have always been fascinated with the colour black and the impact it gives and this comes from being exposed to Japanese comics at an early age. Japanese culture was quite influential in terms of youth entertainment when I was younger and living in Thailand. I could speak Thai but not read it so I pretty much made up the conversations in my head and paid more attention to the drawings. I would follow every line and inking of those comics.

But to tell you the truth, for a long time I used colour until I went back to Thailand and Cambodia in the late 90s and I was at Angkor Wat which is the old capital of Cambodia. I was so amazed by all the carvings and I felt a strong cultural bond since my mother is actually Cambodian.

Anyway I came back from the trip to Angkor and bought some black ink and started to draw from the photos I had taken. While doing this I was amazed at the look I was getting, I mean I was just basically drawing what I saw but it was the feeling of the black and white that excited me, so that was the spark. When I came back to NZ in 2001 I would doodle all the time while sitting in design lectures and I started coming up with new ways to draw, I just kept doing this all the time and there and then my style was born.

Are you able to make a living from your art or is it relegated to the status of a hobby?

To be a true master of your craft, one has to make sacrifices and although I’d love to say ‘I’m making a killing’, there are periods where I’m struggling to make ends meet and I have a family to feed so times can be rough, but no matter what I will hustle and grind to make things happen and that is my love for what I do. In the end the hard work and struggle always pays off, so I never put my art in the hobby category because I basically live it and breath it. I’m not one of those cats that talks about I could do this or I could do that, I just get down and do it and make it happen.

You’re involved with a couple of different art collectives, can you tell us about them?

My man Else from MSK and ICR put me down with ICR. Before that I had never rolled with a crew, so it’s an honour and we have future plans to work on various projects. Another crew I roll with was started by my Pacific Brother Angry Woebots aka Aaron Martin and I got much love for this guy. He reached out to me and got me to roll with his crew Army Of Snipers - meaning we are like snipers but in an artistic sense where all the members of the crew travel to different parts of the world to do our art. It’s like we go out there and make a hit, do damage and then mission accomplished [laughs] like we are hit men but with paintbrushes and spray cans [laughs]. I really love that idea. We have some really crazy projects planned for the near future. Much love and respect to my boy Aaron!

What mediums do you like to work with other than aerosol?

I always use ink and brush when I paint or acrylics when I paint on walls. I have never really picked up a spray can, I feel a spray can is just one way to paint on a large scale and preferred by most graffiti artists simply because you can work through a piece much faster and it’s much more transportable, but for me, my true love is to paint by brush and when I paint on walls I use huge brushes so I’m not standing there like with a pallet and a French beret on [laughs]. I’ll have recycled jars filled with water and also a mix of black Acrylic watered down to make the paint smoother to paint with, I love the sound and smell when I put paintbrush to wall.

What are some of the highlight exhibitions that you have been a part of?

I would have to say the one I had the most fun with and also the show with the most meaning was the collaborative effort between me and my homeboy 2Tone when we did the Night-Breed 2008 show over here in Auckland city at Qubic (www.qubicstore.com). I literally shed blood sweat and tears getting that show done, a lot of shit was going on in my life then and it wasn’t all good but that show with 2Tone was like my medicine. 2Tone is a very good friend of mine plus I love his style so that’s why it’s my favourite and so far has been the dopest one we both came up with and we plan for a Night-Breed 2 eventually.

I also have to mention the Hi-Fructose (Bitters and Sweets) show at Gallery 1988 in LA 2007, when I had a chance to go over to LA with a good friend of mine from back home. That trip was a blast and so was the show, I made many great contacts including, Chaz Bojorquez who spent time with me and showed me the other side of LA. It really was a dream trip, I wasn’t sure if I was awake or dreaming sometimes.

What are some of the recurring themes and images in your artwork and what is the significance of these?

The theme that always seem to creep and slide into my work is my vision of the Naga snake which is a mythical creature in Cambodian culture. It has five heads, one in the centre and two on each side. The Naga actually derives from India since originally Hinduism had early effects on the religious aspects of South East Asian Culture especially Cambodia. My mother would always tell me lots of Cambodian legends when I was a kid so I kind of imagined the Naga being a bit like a dragon, because I knew how a dragon was supposed to look. Before I had any real exposure to what a Naga looked like I just kind of imagined it and what its scales may look like which is what I base a lot of the patterns on in my works. It is from my childhood memories of what I made up in my head mixed in with what I saw later when I had a chance to go and visit Cambodia. It’s funny because my Mum actually kept a lot of my drawings from when I was a kid and I can see I used to draw a lot of dragons and snakes, which is what I still do now. So really my subject matter has never changed, only the style has improved since I was a five year old kid.

Looking back to the early days of your art career how would you say your work has evolved since then?

I believe my works have evolved in the sense that I now know exactly what I’m doing- meaning that my style is on lock and the fact that I have embraced my heritage more and who I am, being half Cambodian/half New Zealander and combining the two has made me look for inspiration from within instead of looking elsewhere for inspiration or ideas. I just now lay my head down and imagine these crazy visions of a new world arising or maybe it’s an old world? But I see these places so vividly in my mind that sometimes even when I’m walking down the street a new vision of this place pops in my head and I quickly hold onto that idea and sketch it down so that I don’t forget.

Who are some of the other artists that you have collaborated with and is there anyone in particular that you have enjoyed working with most of all?

So far I have collaborated with 2Tone, Misery and Askew and I really have enjoyed collaborating with all three because they are all very talented people and all three are unique personalities. I must mention Berns who I had a chance to paint a wall with just recently and I look forward to working more with.


Where has your artwork taken you?

So far physically my artwork has taken me to Los Angeles, but my artwork has travelled more than me [laughs], but next year looks to be the year of travel with a few projects that will be taking me through Asia.

Does your mixed heritage play a big role in your art?

My Mum is Cambodian and my Dad is From New Zealand. My Dad’s ancestry is Irish and My Mum has a mixture Of Cambodian and Chinese, so I feel all these cultural influences have really sprinkled a lot of their flavours into what I paint and the style I paint, definitely a hybrid style. In saying that, I did not go out of my way to specifically portray this in my work. This happened over time and was just a natural progression as I grew, exploring my art forms and subject matter.

What projects do you have coming up?

There are two main projects in the works at the moment. One is with my good Friend King Kapisi who is set to release his 4th album, which I’m telling readers right now is going to be one truly amazing album. Kaps has had time to eliminate any Majors or middle aged Record Exec’s from telling him what to do and he has returned to the essence. I was originally involved with creating the album’s cover art and CD packaging but after talking more with Kaps and his wife Teremoana we thought “why not take a step further and really do this in style?” So the basic plan is Kaps releases his album and then from that we extend an art show where all the artists that we have selected have been invited to interpret the concept of Kaps’ new Album title Hip Hop Lives Here. Not only are some of the most dope graff writers and artists from New Zealand involved, but we also got some truly dope talent from Aussie and the States involved including Chaz Bojorquez, Retna, Jeremyville, Kid Zoom, Angry Woebots, Mr Jago, 2Tone, Askew, Hat One and Lady Diva to just name a few. It’s a truly star studded list of artists involved with this project. So from all the art created, the works will then go on display as an art show. We already got the major high profile spots on lock for the show over here in New Zealand including The Auckland Museum and Te Papa Art Museum. It is really an amazing feeling to have such major organizations show love and support for the Hip Hop Lives Here project.

This really is a dream project become a reality for me. The only way such an amazing event like this could happen is due to the love and determination that both Kaps and Teremoana have for likeminded creative people. Without them this would only be a daydream, they are the most straight-up genuine people one can know.

The next project is going to be a wild one and that’s in the works with my boy Angry Woebots. We have been steadily planning to roam all over Asia next year hitting up the place and painting everywhere we go. We haven’t worked out the full details yet as we are still planning but we hope to turn the whole journey into a DVD and there is even some talk about it becoming sort of like a reality travel show but that’s all in discussion at this stage, and that’s planned for 2010.

These are the two major projects but in between all that are new shirts coming out, new artworks, more shows and me and 2Tone planning to lock down a Nightbreed 2, maybe in Aussie this time but still working on that.

As you can see Peap is one busy dude. You've probably already noticed that he contributes here on the regular so stay up on ACCLAIM blog for more from Peap and what's he's up to.

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