Paul Blazey

We are all products of our environment. These are the forces that condition our internal dialogue. Our experiences of life are colored by what's around us and in turn I see my role as an artist to color all that is around me.

I was an 80's kid. So that means I saw rock get steamrolled by hip hop. That means that I was part of a movement that has transformed culture. It means that my art has always come from within but has just about always lived on the streets. I don't deny my urban art roots but equally, I don't let it decide what my art should be. My driving force is struggle but sometimes I struggle to say it right, so I keep trying to paint a picture worth a thousand words.

Everyone's conflict is a personal battle to define their identity in a world that more often than not rewards conformity. Street art offered me an unconventional platform that accidentally allowed my work to shine, which in turn shaped my identity. I say accidentally because none of this was planned, my art is something that just happened once I realized that I could draw. It was my environment that produced the spark to paint walls but it is my internal dialogue that I now try to depict - not on walls but on canvas using all of the techniques that I've taught myself over the last twenty years. Everything has been an experiment, a learning experience to gain insight into how best to express my desires, thoughts, observations and ideas.

Today, my visual arts work is about delivering something that comes from my subconscious with authenticity but it's more than just about keeping it real, its more than just survival, its about delivering on the realization that imagination can make a difference.