10 questions with Graffiti artist TASK
ARTIST INTERVIEW
We chat with TASK on growing up in Springfield, Graffiti and his motivations.
How long have you been painting? What got you started?
I write Task I’m from Springfield Ma born and raised. Summer of 97 so about 28 years, I was always fascinated by letters I remember back to 3rd grade I would do kids first letter of there name the size of the paper I’m pretty sure after a while I was selling them for .25 cents haha as I got older I would study the local stuff that i was seeing up, at first I was writing my real name and was getting hot around the neighborhood so my cousin schooled me and told me to pick a name other than mine, so Task it was.
What does “graffiti” mean to you?
Graffiti to me is Freedom ,mental therapy, and a quick escape from reality.
How do you define “Style”?
I find the most simplest letters have the most style but to each is own, take away the arrows and bubbles and all the extra stuff if your letters stand strong that’s style to me.
What is your proudest achievement (number of spots, something massive etc)?
The proudest achievement to me is being able to paint as much as I want for as long as I been painting and still be able to provide for my family and still give them all my time if that makes sense. I was never into keeping track of numbers of trains,spots etc. I just love to paint.
What's your Dream paint spot?
No dream spot just enjoy painting new city’s, countries or anything out of the ordinary.
What keeps you motivated through creative burnout/slumps?
Besides the people i paint with “Crew”I would have to say my wife keeps me motivated the most when im in a slump she’s def my biggest supporter.
How has graffiti affected your mental health? (finances, relationships, career etc)
Beside when I was younger and getting locked up and having to pay some fines and doing community service it really hasn’t effected me in a negative way as for mental health it’s great as I’m sure it has that effect on many of us.
Any chase stories or strange encounters while out painting?
Yea one that sticks out to me the most, one winter night it was four of us Me ,Nero,Spre “RIP” and Syko we were walking to do a spot as we get ready to cross the street a suv pulls up to us no more than 15 feet away and out of no where a dude reaches out the window with a gun and 3-6 shots are let off towards me and Syko in shock we run as fast as we could not knowing if one of us got hit as we make it to the track the suv busts a u turn and lets off a few more shots it was wild debating if we should still paint we said fuck it dropped some quick shit and dipped out! Just a normal night in Springfield.
How do you balance Graffiti with your day to day life?
Graffiti is something that’s always been part of my life so it’s not hard for me to balance.
What kind of effect has this practice had on your life? Positive or negative? Explain
It had more positive than negative it definitely help me get through some of the roughest time, I met a lot of good people that is like family now, lots of memories some good some bad.
Where do you hope to see the future of Graffiti?
Just keep it raw, I’d like to see the future writers getting into it at a young age like I did, more people focusing on handstyles and simples form there own style,other than jumping into trying to do pieces but then again that’s my opinion.
If you could give your younger self, day 1 writer any advice.. What would you tell yourself?
Don’t go hitting walls in the daytime! As in walls we would just do throw ups or tags around the city all times of the day, get of the city bus and catch tags on the bus before it pulls off stupid shit that set me back a little. Other than that I wouldn’t change anything I’m still the same person I was as a kid just more smarter and wiser.
Who's your favorite writer(s)? Additionally- Any slept on writers we should know about?
Risk and Simon SSC were my favorite writers coming up as they had all aspects locked down from trackside the streets, freights, highways down to markers tags! Simon is definitely a super underrated writer to me.
Shoutouts:
Shout out to my wife and kids for always holding me down!! Shout out to my Crews for always pushing me to be better and stay creative and shout out to my daily circle I keep tight you know who you are!
Bonus: Dream paint session with what writer(s) dead or alive?
To have one more chance to paint with my boy SPRE and my boy FAZE RIP
Follow TASK on socials @Taskmoney_
