Defer Debuts Adversity Breeds Strength Prints

1xRUN Thru Interview
Adversity Breeds Strength by Defer

1xRun: Tell us a little bit about the original piece, is it still for sale? How long did it take to create?
Defer: The original piece is acrylic on a 60” x 48” canvas and was created in 2012. It has been featured, through the OTIS show on various art reviews, blogs and as well as the show itself being featured on CBS 2 News, KCAL 9 News and also Channel 34 Noticias. At the present moment the painting is on display at the OTIS College of Art and Design’s Ben Maltz Gallery and is still for sale. This piece took roughly 3 weeks working on it off and on.

1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about.
Defer: The idea for this piece came about very spontaneously – I was working on the text, which runs up and down and across the piece. I knew I wanted to do some powerful imagery in the center, so I just followed my instinct and the rest is history.1xRun: What is unique about this piece?
Defer: What is unique about this piece is that it is a piece that is has both typography and abstract imagery. The lettering style is very unique in that it is a hybrid form of writing, which is covered with washes of paint, then in the center there is a abstract burst of energy, comprised of random gestural brush strokes.

1xRun: Why should people buy this print?
Defer: I think people should buy this print because – the piece that it is derived from is a piece that I hold dear, it is a very personal piece that represents overcoming adversity and summoning up that inner strength that pushes us to move forward. I also want to add that anyone who buys this piece will have seven years of good luck – haha – lets hope so.

1xRun: Describe the piece in one gut reaction word.
Defer: Dynamic.1xRun: When did you first start making art?  What was your first piece?
Defer: I started making as far back as I remember, as a child I used to draw on the walls of our house, I also used to open up crayons and makers in the store and scribble on anything that was in front of me, I got into trouble. My first piece that I did on a wall was in 1984, I did a piece that said KAOS 2 off of the freeway in Boyle Heights.1xRun: What artists inspired you early on? How about currently?
Defer: Early on, the first artists to really inspire me were the early graffiti artists in LA, legends like Rick One “Crime”, Geo R.I.P, Sine R.I.P, Char DTK, Soon, Shandu and many others from that mid 1980’s era. The artist who inspires me the most right now is Tempt – a graffiti artist from LA – not only is he inspirational as an artist but as a human being. He was diagnosed with ALS – a degenerative nerve disorder. Through all of this, he still creates art with his eyes, with the help of an eye tracking system that allows him to utilize the movement of his eyes to create lines which connect with one another to create works of art. He created a beautiful sculpture that was on display at PCMA (Pasadena Museum of Modern Art) ‘s show entitled “Street Cred” in 2011. There is also a documentary about him entitled “Getting Up: The Tempt One Story”.


1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work?
Defer: Absolutely, I listen to all kinds of music when I paint from such a broad selection of music. A song that hypes me up is Immortal Techniques’s “Point of No Return”. I also listen to a lot of motivational speeches, and inspirational stuff that I find on Youtube, I just play it as I paint.
1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why? Any deceased artists?
Defer: I would like to collaborate with artist Ai Weiwei, although our styles have nothing in common, I think that to collaborate with him would be to stand for something – to make art that brings awareness to certain causes and to defy injustice. I would have liked to have collaborated with be architect Le Corbusier – because his art and architecture was ahead of it time. I would have loved to paint on a structure he designed.1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it? The last?
Defer: The first piece that I bought was a piece by an artist named Elizabeth Stark in 2005, it was one of the pieces that was in a group show I was in. Yes, I still have the piece. That was also the last piece of art that I bought.

1xRun: What else have you been up to lately? What does is your schedule like so far for 2013 for you?
Defer:   My schedule is pretty busy this year, I have a few shows coming up, I am also going to paint in Hawaii and Las Vegas in the near future. I am also working on a typography book with tattoo artist Big Sleeps.

1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Defer:  – Website – Instagram @defer_k2s  –

-1xRUN