DYRE is a graffiti artist who makes flops and tags. Sometimes he uses DIRE because it fits better with the style he is working on. His team is the fabulous Eskritores Graffiti Crew aka EKR. The artist lives now in the Chilean city of Angol due to his job as a risk manager working in a forestry company. However, his real passion is graffiti. The following interview with the artist was done by Salvador Seda.
INTERVIEWING DYRE
When did you start with graffiti? At what age and who influenced you or how did you come to do it?
I started in 2011, at the end of that year. I remember summer was starting here in the Southern Hemisphere. I was influenced by my group of friends. We were about 8 young people, all between 14 and 18 years old. Within the branches of hip hop I chose graffiti while others went for rap. Our group was called Estilo Callejero Skuad (ECS); everything was born in Osorno, which is a city around 380 km south of Angol.
What are the themes or styles that you like to do? Also, why do you use the Dyre flop or tag? How did you come up with or what influenced you to use Dyre?
I do not have a style that I prefer, but I could say that what I do most today is wild style or semi wild, in the same way I have a lot of attraction for the flop. In my opinion, flops together with tags are the essence of graffiti. I use the flop because I really like the bubble-like shape of the letters, as well as the possibility that I have to play with the letters including characters, shapes, shading, etc. When I started, oldest friends used to give away their pseudonyms, in others they assigned the names as they wanted and there are also those who create them. In my case, two friends from that time assigned me that tag. They chose that name because it belonged to a friend of theirs who had already retired from the game, so that’s why they gave it to me and I started scratching DYRE 193. Then I left the numbering aside and just continued with that name as my flop and my tag.
Where do you paint, in what places, how do you choose to paint in a particular place? For example in Angol, how did you get here? How or who influences the next place where you are going to make a mural?
I paint in different parts, some spots in the middle of the city, sometimes with permission and others without. I also paint in abandoned places such as bridges, factories, supermarkets, places where I can spend hours without anyone disturbing or away from urban noise, kind of a little escape from reality. The truth is that it is relative but each experience I enjoyed it to the maximum. I came to the city of Angol specifically for work, just over two years ago. In the case of my next wall where I will do graffiti, what influences a lot in my case is the amount of material I have versus what I want to do; even my mood is fundamental when choosing my next spot.
Do you make paintings or any other type of art that you expose or sell? Have you ever exhibited in a gallery?
During these years I have painted several pictures. I try to create about 2 to 3 paintings a year, at some point I painted many paintings, today not so much, almost nothing. However, the little paintings I do, I do not sell them, and I give either to my close ones or relatives. I like to visit the places where my paintings are. There has not been an opportunity to exhibit in a gallery yet. Maybe because I don’t have paintings since I finish one, I give it right away. I always have a zero balance of paintings in my hands, ha-ha-ha.
Tell me about your experience with graffiti, do you belong to a crew? Tell me more about that. What do other graffiti artists tell you about your work?
My experience has been one of learning, in fact in every area of life one does not stop learning and in that sense graffiti is not the exception. The best thing is friendship and the people I have met on this long road. However, I cannot fail to mention that for a long time I painted alone, I think that stage was of ups and downs but that made me learn things for myself. Mind you, it led me to make a lot of mistakes and have to look for my identity but that’s what it’s all about – constant learning. My crew is ESKRITORES GRAFFITI (EKR); we are a family where everyone has their place well earned. I was one of the last members to join the family, which has been 4 years since joining; each meeting is a bomb. Regarding my work, the truth is that I am not one of those who paints to listen to or read a comment, be it good or bad, although sometimes that still reaches the ears of one, which is not bad. In general comments have been positive but others not so much, that is part of life.
I imagine that in your art there is some message or life experience. Tell me your perceptions and feelings regarding what you do on the walls.
The truth is that many messages I do not deliver in my pieces. They are only letters, and therefore the opinion of the common citizen, someone who does not know how graffiti works, they are only letters. Personally, I like movement, so in some cases I do freestyle while on other occasions I already have a certain design or sketch but always, after drawing letters everything is to flow over and over again. For me the stage is freedom, without any questioning. It is at that moment where this makes sense and I feel the need that when I finish a graffiti, to the minute, and I want to continue painting another wall or place immediately.
Who are the artists and graffiti artists who have influenced you? What graffiti artists do you admire or like? What would you say to other graffiti artists or someone who was just starting to paint walls?
Whoever says they have no references or people who influenced their beginnings is lying. As a child I had the chance to see a lot of work by Ysek7 ( @ysek7_mrk ); I also grew up seeing the artists Mayes ( @mayes_wildstyle ) or Posh ( @poshdelfuturo ) graffiti, all from different region of Chile. Internationally, I really liked the style of Augor ( @_augor_ ) and also I followed the pieces of Bates ( @greatbates ) too. I don’t really have favorite graffiti artists; if I like their styles and versatility that is OK with me. Finally, to those who are just beginning to paint, I would say the same thing that I mentioned to my students from the recent workshop held: that no one can tell them that they are not capable of doing what they like, that they should fight for what they want and for their own goals and never, never end art and color. It is also important that each one must shine with its own light.
>>> The interview was conducted by Salvador Seda <<<
VIDEO OF GRAFFITI ACTIONS IN OSORNO
ARTWORKS FROM DYRE ON THE ANGOL MAP
INFOTHEK
Artist: DYRE – DYRE ONE – DYRE 193 – DIRE
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dyre_one
Hashtag: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/dyre
Crew: EKR CREW – ESKRITORES CRU
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eskritores_graffiti
Hashtag: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/eskritores
Crew Page: https://vagabundler.com/chile/streetart-map-angol/crew-eskritores
Crew: COLECTIVO SURPINTA
Photographer & Author: Salvador Seda
Instagram GraffitiPreBicentenario: https://www.instagram.com/graffitiprebicentenario
Profile Page: https://vagabundler.com/culturists/salvador-seda
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