SILOH

My name is Siloh, I’m kind of a graffiti writer and part painter/muralist. It’s hard to define what this is specifically because the label of street art is not really that great. My identity comes from graffiti but I’m also into so much more as an artist, and it all comes from the same place for me. I appreciate any art with a certain energy behind it.

I started taking it seriously around 2011 when I did a short move from Victoria to Vancouver, living in a Dodge work van with a bed and shelving in the back. That was a really good era in Vancouver. My memory is fuzzy but I remember people like Yaboi, Lake and Each everywhere, NWK stingers going off. Illegal Soak characters everywhere, heavy bombing and innovative burners all over the place. People were pushing on every level and that energy really influenced me.

This is when I started to really develop my style. I naturally had this flowy style that came from script writing, with an emphasis on shapes and composition. My favourites were always the stylish legible ones with smart creative choices. People like Bacon, Jnasty, Sueme, Vers, Perv for example. Also always admired the way Tars used colour, like a master of colour schemes.

For the last while graffiti has taken a back seat for me to evolve as a painter, which has taken a disgusting amount of effort ( getting good at anything doesn’t come easy). Which is all cool, but there’s still nothing like graffiti. Graffiti will always have a special place because its pure release, pure expression, straight alkaline, full body movements. No asking anyone permission, no design concepts, no contracts, no emails, get that shit out of here. It’s just pure, at the end of the day there’s nothing better.

While I sit on the sidelines it’s fun to see what the 90’s crew is doing in Vancouver. Or anyone bombing, it’s all awesome to see. Off the top of my head Vespa, Rise, Jul, Fario, Ibis. It feels important for a city to have people pushing in this way, I’d argue it’s even healthy for a city. It’s very motivating, it adds to the culture of the landscape and makes the city feel alive.