Sole

Stencil / Screen-print Artist and Graphic Designer

28 Feb 2008

Fresh from designing and hand stenciling the posters for The Rippon festival in Wanaka, Wellington based stencil artist/graphic designer Sole has just been commissioned to design the majority of the visual branding and produce a selection of hand stenciled posters and live painting for the Parihaka International Peace Festival.
Previously known for his pacific/urban fusionist design work and creation of intricate multi-layered stenciled posters and flyers for high-profile artists and organisations such as Upper Hutt Posse, Cornerstone Roots, Digital Mystiks, The Nomad, Sage Francis, The Black Seeds, Olmecha Supreme, Rex Royale (Wellington) and Loop Recordings, Sole is a name that has become synonymous with stencil art in Wellington and Auckland.

This summer Sole is set to achieve national recognition through his work for Rippon and Parihaka, the launch of his pacific/urban focused clothing label 'Aerosole' and a series of performances painting live at outdoor music festivals across the country which will wrap up with a solo art exhibition in Wellington during march.
Originally from the west coast, sole has called Wellington the place he hangs his hat for the past seven years and during that time has made himself indispensable to the local music and arts industries via a tireless work rate and a constant stream of original ideas. He lives in the intersection where the old school DIY punk attitude meets underground hip-hop culture and Polynesian/pacific soul and imagery.

As an artist/designer Sole is influenced by Mephisto Jones, Swifty, Mitchy Bwoy, Obey, Classic soul/funk album covers, propaganda artwork, vintage imagery, pacific motif's and the changing life experience of growing up in rural New Zealand then relocating to the culturally and artistically rich streets of Wellington city.
Outside of commercial design and poster/flyer stenciling, Sole has produced individual commission works for many private clients, contributed to various collaborative art shows nationwide as well as exhibiting in 2005 at the prestigious Streetsweepers exhibition in New York City.

“Essentially I strive to express myself through producing designs and paintings that evoke the possibilities of a brighter future, utilising images of people I know or have met, blended with landscapes and objects that capture the various environments I find myself in. I get passionate about the intital stages of developing a concept, forget the limitations and often end up enduring supposedly implausable feats, all in the pursuit of realising my vision.”

Check www.sole72.net for more information