Interview with street artist Fintan Magee
These huge, bold paintings are the creative work Fintan Magee – the Brisbane street artist and muralist.
Fintan’s artwork usually involves a great deal of spray paint and acrylics, and some of his studio pieces are even watercolour. Drawing from the environment around him, Fintan spends a lot of his time exploring abandoned buildings and unused spaces around the city. He’s recently spent some time in Melbourne as well and was enriched by the buildings and old spaces there too.
Fintan describes:
“My work explores loss, memory and disposability on many levels and the environment they are placed in is always important.”
He is frequently commissioned to create murals for cafes, art spaces, and galleries, and his bold style encapsulates each space he lends his time to.
Fintan’s currently working on a new collection of work after a successful show at Jugglers Art Space at the end of last year.
Although this video was produced in the lead-up to his solo show, it’s a fantastic insight into Fintan’s creative process. Watch it below….
Fintan’s always on the move, so follow his travels and creative adventures with Instagram.
How have you got to where you are today?
I started drawing at an early age but for me, my life as a serious artist started when I got into graffiti at 13, originally I was only interested in the traditional graffiti format: bombing and colourful letterforms but I guess I grew out of that when I was in my early 20’s and started to experiment with new influences and media.
In a few words, describe yourself…
I am someone that always does what he enjoys and wouldn’t waste his time doing anything else.
What are you spending your time on at the moment?
I am currently working on the design project from hell, unfortunately painting in abandoned buildings doesn’t always pay the rent. I am also painting a wall in West End this weekend.
Do you have a ritual for getting into the creative mindset? Or a creative process?
Not really, I try to stay in the creative mindset at all times anyway.
What or who inspires you?
Everything around me really. It’s important to paint how you see the world. I draw inspiration from so many artists though the list would be too long to begin.
What are you most proud of?
My sneaker collection.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I had a lot of different things that I wanted to be at different stages of my childhood but I really wanted to be a scuba diver more than anything.
