indgo

Back in December 08, I did a studio visit with Indgo (Indg), Vancouver painter and stencil artist. Really, she's so much more, but we'll stick with that for now. Indgo's studio is tucked away in a half abandoned building in the corroded artery of the city. I met her early in the frozen morning a few blocks from her studio. She explained to me the night before that she would have to 'escort' me as there is no public access. We walked through sleeping bag homes and shopping cart condos then turned a corner into an alley. I was suddenly very conscious of my rolling luggage, long black coat and pretentious scarf. I was doing the studio visit as a last stop on my way home from covering a show the night before and there was just no way around looking like an asshole. I picked up my luggage and walked to the back of a building with a locked gate. Indgo unlocked the gate and rushed me through. The history of the building is like most in the area, once a business, then rented and turned into a meth lab, then abandoned and left to the squatters. Eventually, her friends took it over and started cleaning it up. Feral cats and forgotten undeveloped film was found in the clean up process. Indgo and her friends developed the film and she showed me the colourful lives of the previous occupants. Hopefully, she will let me share those with you in the future, as you can imagine, they have a devastating 'VICE Magazine' quality to them. Back in the studio, Indgo shares her first stencils, a collection of paintings from the past and some newer ones. She is heavily into free art and art trades, which is fantastic to see for someone so talented. She is very much in tune with her artistic efforts and has immense passion for each piece. If you do find one of her works lightly nailed onto a construction site or telephone pole, consider yourself fortunate and take it with you. Give it a good home. Keep an eye out for some group shows planned in spring 2009. Check her out on Flickr and Dripbook. We will be doing an interview with Indgo in the upcoming months, feel free to send some questions to info(at)wallfarmers(dot)ca.


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