Mik Shida Debuts With Spirit Sphere

1xRUN Thru Interview
Spirit Sphere by Mik Shida

1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this piece, is the original still for sale?
Mik Shida: The piece is one of a triptych that I specifically for 1xRUN with this print in mind, hoping one of them would work well as a print. This piece is in line aesthetically with my latest body of work, creating for a traveling exhibition I’m doing at the moment, up the east coast of Australia, entitled Inner Myths. I’m very drawn to sci-fi imagery and the work of artists such as Roger Dean and Frank Frazetta, and their styles and subject matter certainly influenced this print and the triptych.

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1xRun: When was this piece created and with what materials?
Mik Shida: Enamel and acrylic on composite pine wood board. The fine black lines are done with black ink. This piece was created earlier this year at my family home, in northern New South Wales, Australia. My hometown is quiet and picturesque. The beach side, forest landscape really influenced these pieces.

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1xRun: How long did the piece take?
Mik Shida: Each painting took roughly two days.

1xRun: What is unique about this piece?
Mik Shida: I think it’s pushing my more psychedelic aesthetic into new ground.

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1xRun: Why should people buy this print?
Mik Shida: It’s one of the prints of the painting I’m proudest of today and really exhibits the new direction that I’ve been going in artistically over the past 12 months, while still reflecting the work that I am known for. Tradition meets innovation.

1xRun: Describe the piece in one gut reaction word.
Mik Shida: psychedelesexual.

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1xRun: When did you first start making art? What was your first piece?
Mik Shida: When I was 14. Probably some super shitty graffiti piece in my hometown. I also used to put up stickers a lot in my small beach town as a kid. I used to spend hours on each sticker!

1xRun: What artists inspired you early on? What artists inspire you now?
Mik Shida: Anthony Lister, Reka and Sofles. As for now, it’s grown into a diverse and far-reaching range of influences – many contemporary and modern Australian and international artists.

1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what?
Mik Shida: I more so listen to audiobooks and documentaries. I’ve really been getting into H.P. Lovecraft and Nietszsche lately.

1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why? Any deceased artists?
Mik Shida: I don’t want to collaborate; I’m tired of collaborating! If I could choose one artist, it would be my friend Knarf (Vienna-based). He’s one of the only artists that I still enjoy collaborating with; I think I overdid collaborating! I’m tired! Gustav Klimt or Egon Schiele. Necromancy motherfucker!

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1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it? The last?
Mik Shida: An Anthony Lister painting – I went halves with my ex-girlfriend (awkward). She has the painting. The last was a print by a Japanese artist, Shohei, from his recent solo exhibition at Backwoods Gallery, Melbourne. I bought that one with another ex-girlfriend too! Ha! But I’m going to get her back!

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1xRun: Any big shows or events coming up that you’d like to share?
Mik Shida: I currently have an exhibition on in Melbourne, which will be traveling up the east Australian coast to Sydney and Brisbane throughout July/August, 2014. Then I’m working on a large scale sculptural commission in Brisbane. In September, I begin a bit of a world tour (if I don’t have a mental breakdown in the meantime).

1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Mik Shida: TumblrFlickrFacebookInstagram @shida_zrf

-1xRUN