Our gal Georgia Fry on how skateboarding helps her approach her art...
At first, skating felt like being in P.E, wearing a piss-stained, crusty, white ensemble with a pair of black velcro hot steppers and a dunce hat. I got into it after my ex – shout out to Dad Bod – suggested the idea. It was the best thing I’d heard since bite-sized battenburg. It’s harder starting when you're older as you no longer have a kid’s fearless attitude, but when I have the wind in my barnet scooping through the city, the mental battle is worth it.
As an artist, I’d become stagnant after uni, but I got into the swing of things again and had some artwork up in Section 144 gallery a while back. Skateboarders have an instinctive, instantaneous and raw approach, which I try to honour.
I love collage, drawing and photography; I like to manipulate an image quickly. As Drop Dead Fred once said: “When something's not working right, the best thing to do is tear it apart to make it better” which I do when my work becomes rigid.
My style has a religious element to it, and encompasses female sexuality. I’ve been making a few stickers, and get gassed when someone spots one. I imagine thrusting my boobs in someone’s face and galloping off in a hysterical laughing fit.
Skateboarding has given me a lot socially and creatively. When we're larking about in the sun, I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside my belly and feel proud to have those badass angels by my side. I progress quite slowly, but I’m not pressuring myself. I enjoy the experience. My next mission is to learn a fancy trick, cos I’m sick of beige lads asking me if I can kickflip. Eventually I’ll pair it with a donkey kick to the gullet. That’d be gnarly, man.
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