Artist collab with DROCCO
Drocco — can you give us a glimpse into your background and journey to art-making?
I started drawing since I know myself as a person. I have these early memories in which I would just draw everywhere and at any time. My parents were really young so I was going everywhere with them — traveling, parties, bars, and they knew that if I had a pen and a piece of paper, I would be calm and quiet haha. In school I was really bad at sports which was “the thing”, so drawing was definitely my tool to connect with people at the time. Luckily my mum was really interested in art, so I had this early exposure to it in general. We used to travel every month to São Paulo to watch some exhibitions, theater, alternative movies and cultural events. That for sure gave me a background, and helped me to see an horizon on working with something related to the field of arts. I decided to study graphic design and I moved to Florianópolis, an island in the south of Brazil which was a life changing experience. I stayed there for 10 years which was also the same amount of time I needed to finish my graduation. It was a challenge to complete it because I started to work early with illustration for some small brands that popped up in Floripa. A cool scene was happening around skate, music, tattoo, art and surf, and I was collaborating with many different creatives. This would eventually become TTDSS (The Tropical Disease), an independent brand with the purpose of creating a historical registration of the period we were a part of. At the same time, I was starting my journey as a tattoo artist. Through this, I started drawing with Chinese ink, exploring precision and complex detailed images. I was always alternating between tattoo, fanzines, collaborations, graphic design and art and still. This cycle of production and deadlines keeps me inspired and active. That’s how I avoid being creatively bored or too comfortable, and I always challenge myself to search for the next project and how I can represent myself in those different mediums.
Over the past year residing in Lisbon, we have fallen in love with the many Brazilians living here. How did you experience growing up there?
Growing up in Brazil is pretty amazing — the mix of cultures, the diversity that is part of our population, the food, the nature, the human interaction, the heat, I can make an infinite list of good and bad points. Overall I think Brazil is the most beautiful and inspiring place in the world. Such a complex and unique mix of ethinologies, religions and culture, all together in a tropical place where people are usually warm and open. Brazil, it’s magical. Besides that, I come from divorced parents since I was 3 years old. Through that, I was living in a mix of completely different worlds — from a low class family, studying in a rich school, interacting with all kind of people, it was a whirlwind of so many different tastes of life. As well being exposed to different environments, from the hood to high society, this huge contrast that is structural in Brazil can be a rich environment to develop adaptability. If you need it or it's open to interact with different realities you would be able to see the value of doing it. For me it wasn’t a choice and not easy every time either, but With time I learned to see the real value of this diverse interaction in life.
From tattooing, to painting, to drawing, your art covers multiple practices. What is the importance for you to keep on discovering different sorts of expressions?
As I mention, this cycle of creative exercises is what feeds me as an artist and as a person. The routine of work and exploration, the human interaction, the silence of the Atelie, I think there is a balance in that mix that makes me active. When working in creative cycles, once I finish some T-shirt graphics I manage time to focus tattooing, since I did it I will try to find some new collaboration project, and that keeps going and going. I can draw 7 days 12hours a day in a row and then spend a few months more focusing on tattoos and fanzines, and this keeps happening every time a new challenge comes or every new idea or reference makes me excited. For a while I struggled with this think of “you should do only one thing to do it well” , but as soon as I understood that my thing is creating visual possibilities in different media’s and supports I start to respect and also use my process as a benefit and not as something that makes me to “loose” my style, but permits me to express myself in different ways, translating different messages through different surfaces, trying to do it in an genuine way, better then searching for being the best.
We’ve noticed that you are very much a ‘collaboration over competition’ kinda guy — how crucial is it for you to grow together?
No one does anything alone, it can be a cliche but for me it’s a mantra. Human interaction is always a subject that interests me and also rules the “creative waves” that comes to my mind. I was never a guy from this one unique friendship group, and I’m not interested in being someone like that, there are just too many cool people to learn from, interact and get inspired. I was never someone competitive. As a tattooist, creating a specific design for someone based on their idea is a collaborative work, the same when doing some briefed freelancer T-shirt project, or creating a branding or a fanzine to represent someone’s using my creative abilities and tools, that makes me translate into images ideas that would never come to my mind if not by someone else, there is such a beauty on that. I think we live in a moment that allot of people want to pose as if they had invented their creative niche or environments, which is such a bullshit, for me instead of standing as someone who wants to pretend that is the first one to do it, creatives should focus on doing it goodly enough for their porpoise, or in a genuine way over being busy checking and judging the competition.
What music do you listen to while creating?
That's a hard one, I guess I alternate a lot of styles. These cycles of creativity and visual influences directly affect how I am listening to music. To tattoo, right now, I definitely prefer something calm. I’ve been listening to a lot of jazz, which helps me with the working flow and concentration. I literally have playlists from 80s classics that remind me of my dad's LPS, to Brazilian tropical mix, funky soul, jazz, heavy metal, rap, and lists that go far. It’s funny but I also enjoy any television bullshit, tutorials, interviews while working alone, from art related content to something completely nonsense, I guess this background noise also helps me to focus.
What is art for?
Basically have fun, it’s pure expression, for me it’s to enjoy the process, to discover and test different surfaces and ideas, an creativity’s exercise of exploration that requires attention and time. It’s to get inspired, to share experiences, visions, connect humans, connect emotions.
Which book is a must-read for every artist?
I would say the trilogy of small books from Austin Kleon. I share a lot of common points of view with the writer and his vision of the creativity process. It’s also good for the advice that helps you when struggling through a creative blackout for example, or how to improve your process, to get references without literally copying and many other cool things to know.
What is the most important for you in what you do?
To enjoy the process no matter what surface or project I’m working on, to keep exploring different mediums, styles, techniques, materials, relations and make my life from what I love to do. To bring my ideas and from others to life genuinely and with style over trying to be better than someone.