Kid Acne Returns With Bat Girl

1xRUN Thru Interview
Bat Girl by Kid Acne

1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this piece, was there an original or was it created for this release?
Kid Acne:
There isn’t an original as such. This particular piece comes from a series of recent Stabby Women wheat-pastes. I thought this one stood out amongst the others so I adapted it to work as a print. I prefer the print to the wheat-paste in fact.

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1xRun: Is this piece part of a series? If so how does it fit in?
Kid Acne:
I’m not really sure how each piece fits in, but it all contributes to an ongoing body of work, which started when I began painting these sorts of characters around on abandoned buildings around 10 – 15 years ago. The Stabby Women are a tribe of nomadic female warriors who form part of a larger matriarchy society with their own belief system, gods and mythology. I imagine I’ll be painting them in one form or another for a while yet.

1xRUN: What materials did you use for this piece?
Kid Acne:
I used water based inks – black, white and metallic gold. The paper is a recycled stock, which doubles up as the skin tone.

1xRun: When was the piece created?
Kid Acne:
These were printed last week in our studio in Sheffield, UK. They’re brand new.

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1xRun: Tell us about the print studio, when did you set that up?
Kid Acne:
We set up the B&B Gallery and print studio earlier this year. After months of renovating the space, it feels good to get back into the actual printing and making side of things again.

1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Kid Acne:
I often hand-embellish my prints and wheat-pastes with colourwash and wanted to continue that idea for this edition. This is a 3-colour print, which makes up the character and background, the colourwash was added at the end to create some texture in the hair.

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1xRun: How long did these pieces take?
Kid Acne:
I think the printing was all done in a day, but with the set up, embellishing, signing etc – probably took 3 days or so.

1xRun: What is unique about this piece?
Kid Acne:
For me, what’s unique about this piece is that I printed it myself. I’ve put out a number of collaborative prints with studios over the years, but I think it becomes more special if I make it myself, as opposed to just signing and numbering it at the end.

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1xRun: Why should people buy this print?
Kid Acne:
People should buy it if they like it. They were made with a lot of love. It’s the second print I’ve released with 1XRUN and the only American release I’ll be doing this year.

1xRun: Describe these prints in one gut reaction word.
Kid Acne:
Crucial.

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1xRun: Your work crosses over into a few different mediums in addition to the visual studio work that we’ve featured here on 1xRUN, do you want to discuss some of your other musical or mural endeavors?
Kid Acne:
I never understood artists who only do one specific thing. One logo, one character or whatever. I need to switch things up otherwise I’d get bored. It does mean I’m going round in circles half the time, but the music and fanzines are as important as the murals, exhibitions and animations. I couldn’t have it any other way. You can hear a snippet of the latest musical offerings below.

1xRun: You’re constantly traveling, where have you been heading to and from recently and what have you been doing?
Kid Acne:
I did a road trip to Croatia in the Summer, passing through France, Switzerland and Italy – but more recently, I’ve just been traveling from the house to the studio, trying to get on with stuff before the Winter hits and it’s too depressing to do any work.

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1xRun: What has been on your schedule?
Kid Acne:
We’ve mainly been working on a series of pilot animations for Channel 4, which feature myself, Jarvis Cocker, Roots Manuva, Chester P and Lady Chann as the characters’ voices. The cartoons are based on our old comic book, Zebra Face, which was written by my good friend, Supreme Vagabond Craftsman.

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1xRun: What kinds of music have you been into lately?
Kid Acne:
I’m always looking for new mixtapes to rinse in the studio. Recent stand outs come courtesy of Andy Votel, Trevor Jackson and JonWayne.

1xRun: What was the last piece of art you bought?
Kid Acne:
It would have been a print by Daniel Sparkes. His stuff is incredible.

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1xRun: Do you have any shows or events coming up that you would like us to highlight?
Kid Acne:
I’ll be taking part in a group show at B&B Gallery in Sheffield in December. My next solo show is scheduled for Spring 2014 in Italy. After that I plan to make a book of my work archiving the past 15 years.

1xRun: Where can people find you?
Kid Acne: WebsiteFacebookTwitter

-1xRUN