Prior to the opening of his recent solo show in Melbourne “Fragments of Consciousness,” HorrorSleazeTrash caught up with SOFLES for this interview.
Illustrator, tattooist, graffiti artist – Sofles is a man of many talents.
SOFLES has earned a reputation as one of Australia’s most watched contemporary artists with his career spanning ten years and sold out exhibitions in his wake. His collection at RTIST Gallery features a set of new and challenging works through various media such as ink, watercolour, acrylic and spraypaint on wood, canvas and paper. SOFLES describes the works in his exhibition as ‘exploring ideas around mixed consciousness, juxtapositioning fragments from the sensory overload of daily life’.
Horror Sleaze trash hooked up a body painting session, with the extremely radical Manni Madcunt, and way too many beers.
All photos taken by the main man, Robbie Warden.
HST: Your girl charro’s are always babes, is the inspiration coming from real life ladies or are you just sketching the kinda honey you would want to bone personally?
SOFLES: A little bit from column a, a little bit from column b. The girls I draw definitely start getting features of the girl I’m seeing at the time. I think its subconscious reference material. But when I see a hot girl I break her down in my head and save the data for later sketches. I like looking at everything in front of me and simplifying it down to basic shapes so I can draw it.
HST: This is so fucking sweet please tell me it’s a real bird? You ever jack off to your own works? I heard Crumb used to (this is kinda a staple question when HST interviews artists – we don’t wanna feel all alone)
SOFLES: I never have, in highschool a guy gave me $20 to draw him a hot chick getting fucked with a dildo. I think that was the start of my art career.
HST: Im not going to say its “not all about the trains” any more cause im pretty sure it is and always will be, but there is a solid shift to the galleries, the tattoo’s, cyber shit, computer editing. As someone who is blowing the fuck up right now, can you feel a cross road ahead?
SOFLES: I think different people go through different interest points at different times. Did I say different enough? I think its about what you feel at the time, you can do so much these days with graffiti, its good to try all this different avenues,
HST: But there has to be a fine line between sellable art (or academically credible art, if you will) and still fucking shit up right?
SOFLES: I can’t say iv had a part in either of them. If you’re a graffiti artist and you sell art, you’re a ‘sellout’ and if you admit to fucking shit up, you’re arrested. Either way theres’s haters I guess.
HST: Living or dead, who would you most like to get drunk with?
SOFLES: Weezy of course.
More info:
– HorrorSleazeTrash.com
– Sofles.com
– Rtist.com.au