Stenciling can be so frustrating and time consuming [speaking from experience here] and for most people the end results would be less than satisfactory. Some would just give up, some would hand over the spray cans to their younger sibling, or worse still, some would just let it dry in the cupboard in between the hardened paintbrush and mouldy cheese. Fortunately, Klingatron always has fresh cans available at his side: it’s like Batman and that inseparable utility belt. His produce: absolutely detailed and breath-taking stencil art. His artwork mesmerises thousands of us and you can see the momentum picking up, more and more people have his name on their lips. Funnily, they end up being speechless. His popularity is picking up, and it’s no longer just on the internet anymore…

PERSONAL INFO:

Name: Klingatron
Age: 24
Country of Origin: Scotland
Genre: Stencil Art
Forms of Art: Detailed stencil art
Mediums used: Stencils, spray paint, ink

THE SERIOUS BIT:

FM: Hello Klingatron, thanks for doing this. Your statement on your site, “I’m only popular on the internet”, what’s that about? And where did your name come from? Surely not the Transformers, right?

K: I love Transformers but it isn’t the reason I came up with the name ‘Klingatron’. It was actually a nickname given to me by my friend’s years ago when we would go out street skating, I’d always be trying big tricks and rise up from heavy slams so my mates would joke that I was half man/half machine. One time however a bad slam got the better of me leaving me with 2 plates and 12 pins in my right arm (I’m right handed) after which I started to cut stencils to create art so the idea of being part machine has a more personal significance in a humorous way.
Initially when I started to create stencils the best way of getting my work out there was to post work on sites such as Wooster collective, Stencil Revolution and Boonika leading me to the assumption that “I’m only popular on the internet” but now my slogan has become more of an observation on how humans prefer to interact with each other via social networking websites.

FM: Your stencil works are meticulous and tidy: so it must have taken you some time to perfect your work. How long have you been stenciling?

K: Not as long as you may think, I started stencilling in my final year of Art College, which would mean that I have been cutting for just less than 5 years. I still see my skills as being something that I still need to continue developing.

FM: How many hours to do you practice in average on a weekly basis?

K: I work on cutting stencils practically everyday and with my stencils being as detailed as they are I do need to spend a good number of hours on them ranging between 50 to 80 hours roughly a week. It just depends on how busy I ma be at the time. I usually give myself deadlines to work towards so that I have time for other things.

FM: When you’re cutting a stencil, and say, suddenly one small tiny bit tears when you are almost complete, do you start over on a new piece or do you try and fix it?

K: With the time and effort put into my stencils I would be an idiot to start a sheet from scratch if a bit happened to tear, I usually just fix it with a bit of tape, nothing major just good enough to hold the stencil together. It doesn’t need to be perfect because I’m only going to use the stencil once anyway.

Yes, these ARE stencils!

FM: O.k. the big Logan Hicks question: you know a lot of people have been calling you the L.H. of Glasgow, what do you say about that? Does your work differ from his?

K: That is quite an honor considering that I have been stencilling for the time I have and to be compared or even displaying work with Logan Hicks is very humbling. It doesn’t bother me if these people compare in a negative or positive way that is their opinion, which they are entitled to of course. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Logan as well as the other stencil artists who deliver detailed pieces such as Adam 5100, Kngee, Lucamalente, Sten and CTRL to name a few who capture aspects of their environment in their work. I try to capture a natural atmosphere in my paintings of people getting on with everyday life in their own environment that we will be sharing at that moment in time allowing the viewer to make up their own little story. Each of my paintings is new and different from the last.

FM: You’ve got background in illustration and printmaking, what made you go down the line of stencilling?

K: During my time at Art College I was easily frustrated with the work I was producing and at times I would struggle to accept me own style because I would rush things. I became so critical of myself that I was pretty much lost until I had a wake up call in the form of a badly broken arm. I returned to college with a fresh outlook and thanks to a Tristan Manco book titled ‘Stencil Graffiti’ I found stenciling and began to use it as an outlet for my ideas extinguishing all frustrations and I started to become (very) patient with my work bringing a new excitement to creating art and self satisfaction cause I had to teach myself as my tutors didn’t know anything about the process either.

FM: You’ve produced some of the greatest stencils and I believe there’s more to come … which is your personal favourite and why?

K: Thank you. I am fond of all my pieces naturally being as they are one off paintings, so it is hard to become so use to them to distinguish a favourite. Of recent I am very fond of the piece titled “Central Tracks” which shows a panoramic view of a train coming in to Glasgow Central Station; it is a big piece being 6 feet wide, which I guess adds to the appeal. However I love “The Bear” which is also a large piece but have become so attached to it that I have decided to keep it for myself. There is something about that piece that has made me not want to part from it. It definitely has a presence; it has been exhibited at 3 different shows and always captured a lot of attention. Because I’m keeping it I guess I want to share simpler versions of it with others by making T-shirts, skateboards or whatever.

FM: I still haven’t gotten the tee yet! I just gotta have it! Have you done any stencils in the streets? A lot of your productions are either on canvases, tees or commissioned work in shops, but I have to admit of not seeing much street stuff.

K: I didn’t come from a traditional graffiti background whilst I have always enjoyed and appreciated it from a young age. I have done the odd street stencil here and there but the fear of getting busted prevents me from doing street stuff on a regular basis. I do plan to do some more in the future but sometimes that idea of a possible criminal record doesn’t appeal to me especially as it prevents you from entering America and I love New York and would hate I was unable to go there again. I enjoy taking my time with my work instead of rushing it, which I would need to do if I was painting the streets. Don’t get me wrong the few times I have done it have been a buzz.

This is still my favorite stencil to date… check out the lower teeth… who the hell can cut stencils like that?

FM: Any upcoming exhibitions?

K: So far 2008 has been really busy exhibiting in 7 shows including a solo show in Glasgow and the ‘Carbon & Chemicals’ tour with the rest of the Xynthetic family. June will see the M8 collective including myself travelling down to Leicester for a group show for the Bass festival. In July I will be heading over to Belfast to exhibit work at The Waterfront at the Candy Collective ‘Sweet Talk’ show.
It looks like I will be sending work to the Melbourne Stencil Festival as an invited artist for the Five Continents show, which I am looking forward to and will be sending some brand new paintings especially for that.
After that it will be quiet until November when The GRV in Edinburgh will be hosting a Xynthetic show so with so much having already happened I am happy to say there is plenty more to come.

FM: What’s next in line for you? Working on any new projects?

K: Hopefully a holiday, it seems like I haven’t had a chance to have a break sometimes. Apart from the up and coming shows I haven’t got anything planned at the moment, I have ideas in my head but nothing worth mentioning. I don’t know what’s next in line and I like that cause that keeps me on my toes and excited about what is around the corner, I’m focused on what I have to do now so that I can plan my next move in time.

THE POTSHOTS SECTION:

FM: You should come to Asia… speaking of which, have you been to this Asia?

K: No but I do want to visit China and Japan whenever I get the opportunity.

FM: Put Malaysia on the list, dude. Have you ever been arrested? Tell us about it.
K:
Nothing to tell, I’ve never been caught by the fuzz.

FM: You hang out with the guys from Xynthetic [I’m a huge fan!] a lot. What are they like?

K: They are a great group of people and we all get on really well. Like you I was a big fan of the concept and work produced by the members of Xynthetic that I was over whelmed when Gav asked me to join the family. I usually have to drive 400 miles to hang out with the troops but it is totally work it. The fact that we are getting shows means that all us artists involved get to hang out properly and have a laugh and a few beers at the same time. It’s great also that we all have our individual styles that go well when brought together, Xynthetic shows offer a good variety of flavour for artistic tastes.

FM: You guys are pretty much Guitar Hero freaks. It looks fun…

K: And it is, so much so that it is easy to totally loose track of time and before you know it you have been playing it for 8 hours. The real fun begins when you get to know a song well enough that you don’t need to look at the screen and can focus on getting your rock star moves on the go. Those guys know what I mean.

Ha! Caught in the act getting his rock on.

FM: Any Last Words?

K: Thanks for taking the time to ask me these questions and I hope your reader enjoy it. Also to keep checking out klingatron.com for all news and updates on what I get up to.

Peace.