Interview: See One

As an active visual artist, I always attempt to seek out contemporaries who offer a new flair in the congested space. Just recently, via the social power of Instagram, I became enamored by the work of See One. With his special exploration of sharp-toothed images full of color, See One has become a staple in the ever-changing art world. He is also a great character designer with the introduction of his lovable Miru who is featured in many of his works. Not only has he breached visual arts but has also began to delve into fashion and entertainment. To learn more about this endeavor, I reached out the master to hear about his aesthetic journey.

Art was an organic part of his life early on that turned into a thriving career. “Art is just what I’ve always done. I’ve been drawing since I was three years old, so it’s as natural to me as breathing and the older I got the more serious I took the talent and decided to work hard at it and see what I could make happen. If all else fails I can always clock into a nine to five job.” With the luck he is having, I am sure he will not have to join us on the nine to five schedule.

I asked See One if he had any favorite pieces to date. He was very blunt with his response. “The electric eagle wall at Welling Court, my painting, Omega and my recent women’s leg wear and has been very interesting.” You see these examples below.

Electric Eagle

Omega

Since he works in an elaborate form, I was curious to learn more about its challenge. “The difficulty for my style lies in the planning of the layers, the lighting and building composition out of small jagged colorful shapes while at times composing those shapes into a figure. Once the planning is done the rest is downhill from there.” Layers in painting is always hard yet rewarding when done right. See One is a prime example of its successes in large-scale pieces.

Hobbes

See One remains optimistic about the explosion of modern art. “I think the art world today is opening up to the graffiti and street artists more and I feel like artists who come from untraditional backgrounds are making some of the most exciting work today.”

Beyond his craft, See One has various other interests. I asked if he had any in particular. “Yes, I have a background in graphic and fashion design and last year started a line of leggings that were very popular. My aesthetic mixes well with fashion and I plan to introduce a few select items soon. In addition to my abstract style I am also comic book artist and illustrator, which is where my artistic roots started. I started doing abstract artwork back into 2009 but have been illustrating since a child.”

To end, The artist is a busy man and has a lot of new things to come. “I just finished 10 new paintings for my third solo show coming up on September 18th and I will be releasing a line of sunglasses featuring my abstract artwork and submitting proposals for a few big mural projects. In 2016 I’ll be releasing my new comic book series with Action Lab Entertainment, I will be moving my character, Miru off-the-wall and into the publishing world for the first time, right now I am doing some concept art for the comic book because me and the creative team have deadlines with the publisher. No other graffiti writer has brought their own original character into comics and I think I’d be the first one to be picked up by a publisher, we have a great story and characters lined up and I’d eventually love to get this series into animation. As for my abstract style, I’ll be moving select pieces into the fashion world and more fine art events.”

See One is definitely an artist you all should keep on your radar. I am excited to witness the growth of his medium and will be sure to look for Miru as he evolves. For more on this talented man, just take a look at his portfolio and enjoy the glimpse of his astonishing work. Note to self, I have got to get some of his sunglasses…

 

Jam On.