Featured Artist: Niark

Meet the aliens with Niark :)‘We come in peace’

Hello Niark, nice to meet you! Please introduce yourself – where do you live, what are you doing?

Hey there! I’m Niark1 but you can call me Seb. I’m a freelance Graphic Designer / Illustrator based in Paris (France). I do graphics for a lot of different clients all around the globe like communication agencies, music labels, street wear brands, etc…

What are your sources of inspiration?
I have a lot of inspiration sources.
Living in Paris I have many opportunities to see exhibitions in galleries and museums. This allows me to examine the work of ‘others’ and that gives me some motivation. Of course the internet is the most important source of inspiration for me since the time I spend behind my computer screen ;). Furthermore I find some cool stuff in art books, street arts, magazines, movies, video clips, documentaries, etc… Music has a big role in my life too and is a big source of inspiration for sure.

Wallpainting

And can you describe your working process?
I don’t follow a specific working process. It depends on my inspirations, the customer, etc… I can start with some sketches, drawings or paintings and rework the graphics on my computer or I start directly on my computer. There is not just ONE good way to make art.

Your work is often based on plane, strongly colored elements and geometric patterns– does this feature have its roots in graphic design?
For some time I have been changing my style, trying to create graphics with simple shapes, but complex in their accumulation. I am very inspired by logos and vector illustrations. I like the potential impact of simple shapes and a limited color choices. Obviously sometimes I work with textures, especially in my paintings. Colors have an important role in my compositions and are an essential element in most of my work. I spend a lot of time to find the right color combinations although mostly black is the one that predominates.

‘Run 4 ur life’

I was wondering about the many aliens in your work. Are these aliens dangerous for the mankind? Can we trust them saying ‚We come in peace’?
The monsters that I represent in my illustrations are not really different from us after all. They are rather what we are on the inside. Things really dark, vices, or the madness that it is in us and in our thoughts, what one wants to hide. They are not really dangerous because they are only pictorial representations, but I can not say the same for the human race. Finally they are not coming in peace. But this is just a stupid message like ‘this is the end’ that I like to write on my artwork ;).

There’s a lot of character design in your portfolio, you’ve even designed Toys.
I have already been contacted by industries that manufacture toys. I would love to have a lot of my characters in volume. That would be great! But this requires hard work and the selection is pretty rough. However I have several times been invited to produce designs on existing toy shapes or make some hand-made customs for exhibitions.

You are part of the ‚Blood Sweat Vector’ collective. Can you tell me about what that means for you or your work?
‘Blood Sweat Vector’ is a good way to make connections with other artists and see or discover their work. It also helps to show your new work, while having some feedback and advice. I love the concept and I think I will send from other visual pending future upcoming events organized by Jared aka J3Concepts.

Just to let you know, folks: We will have a big ‘Blood Sweat Vector’ group show here at West Berlin Gallery in November!! And Niark will take part of course. Watch out for more informations coming soon!

I suppose the laFraise 15K exhibition is not your first show in a gallery. Where did you show your work before?
Yes I have already taken part in some gallery exhibitions before for collective shows. Recently I participated in a group show called ‘Battle’ at the Gallery Chappe in Paris with some guy from the 9eme concept crew and other artists. And I have already done some other exhibitions in Paris (with C215 at the Heart Gallery, at Artoyz with my buddy Bunka, Dadawan Madturnip, …) and in some other places in France with Customania. Also I had group shows in Belgium, UK, Australia, Singapore etc…

Thank you very much, Niark, and good luck for the future!
Thanks to you and for your interest in my work!

Take your time and browse through Niark’s portfolio and blog until there’s the next chance to see his works in living colour at West Berlin Gallery ;)