Welcome to our new ‘Get to Know’ segment featuring MAID. Ironlak continues to exist because of the people buying our paint, so every month we’re taking some time out to get to know our supporters; there’s a million and one stories out there – we want to hear and share some of them with you.
First up we got to chattin’ with Sydney letter-bender MAID. She’s been in the game for a hot minute and is showing no signs of slowing up her home-grown flavour parade!
I: How long have you been doing graffiti? What was it that got you into it?
M: My babysitter’s boyfriend was doing a blackbook one night and from that my brother and I started sketching mannny sided letters. I was 11 then. I started tagging school desks and the streets/train line on the way to 7/11. I painted my first illegal piece in 2007.
I: Have you always written Maide? Is it just a good letter combo, or is there a deeper level meaning/story behind the word?
M: I changed to Maid in 2011, it’s a good letter combo and I like being a fair maiden **flutters eyelashes**, plus I was a house cleaner for years.
I: You seem to hang with the KGB clique a fair bit, they’re really well known for their distinctive style, do you think this influences your work; and Sydney as a whole?
M: Everyone I paint with influences me a lot, I’m a sponge! Ive still got a lot to learn. I know a few of the boys, they’re funny characters and a lot of kids look up to them. They Keep Getting Busy!
I: In your opinion, who’s doing the best graffiti in the world? And the same for Sydney, who’s killing it there in your opinion?
M: Many writers I’ve met around world are killing it! If you don’t go out and actively paint, you don’t see much of what’s really going down. To me sometimes it’s people that have serious disabilities that are still going to put themselves through pain to paint, and others who just run riot, those sick euro stock cap outlines or just a tight throwy. Everyone brings some rad! The internet gives a misguided image of who’s really killing it, just go out and experience it.
I: What’s your favourite Ironlak colour and colour combo?
M: Colours: Electro and Oink. I love the nearly-black outlines: Swamp, Storm’s Purple Reign and Sirum Black-red. They work so well with any contrasting fills. Eg: the Keen, Banos and Guacamole fill with a Storm outline!
I: Any crazy stories you can share with us?
M: When cops ask for your number haha. Or one night painting a trackside, after we were done we went to get the car and I jumped out to get a photo. When security rolled up to my friend, wondering what she was doing parked in the middle of nowhere — she did the whole ‘Help, I’m lost! I don’t know where I am!’. They were so helpful and drove next to her all the way up the highway just to make sure she was all good! Nice guys.
I: It seems as though the public are slowly coming around to ‘street-art’. What’s the graffiti climate like in Sydney?
M: Gawd! I think it’s beyond slow, every middle aged person is a street art photographer, including my mum!
I: What’s the direction for the future? We’re feeling your fine art, any more of that to come?
M: Thank you! My mind runs at ten things at once! Trying to improve my letters, bigger walls, more spots, studying the finer art styles, building more of a body of work, as well as trying to pay bills… I hope for an exhibition within the year!
I: Alright, now for the the Ironlak eleven. Don’t think too much! Just answer with the first thing that comes to mind…
1. If you go to a hot box, what do you buy? Put it on tick till centerlink comes through
2. Coke or Pepsi? Cor fee
3. Nike or Adidas? Nikes
4. I say buddha, you think… peace
5. OSX or Android? The burner
6. Phone call or text message? face to face
7. Aisle or window seat (on a flight) where yo’ dad sit
8. Biggie or Tupac? Lemmy or Ozzy?
9. Beach or swimming pool? I’m a mermaid, I belong in the sea
10. Would you rather the ability to spray Ironlak out the end of your index finger (at any time) or invisibility? (We’re getting deep now) Invisibility, so then I can spray paint everything and never get caught, spy on people and fuck with people haha
11. Two things – one disappears from existence never to return again. Door handles or mirrors?
Mirrors, then seedy old men would stop wearing them on the tops of their shoes!
MAID:
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