Artist Interviews: Cut Collective

We are really happy to be having the Cut Collective join us for the first Auckland Fair — we love their work. You may have seen it yourself out and about around Auckland — either on the back of a bus, down the side of a building or creeping around a doorway on K-Rd. We're sure you'll like them as much as we do...

How long have you been doing your craft? The Cut Collective has been going strong for around five years now, but it was only in December 08 that we decided to take it to the next level and form a company and find a premises. Individually we have all been painters and designers for well over 10 years. Since forming the biz and finding a space, we have really excelled and become known as a group.

Continue reading after the jump...


How did you get started? We all met each other around five or so years ago, when we were doing a bit of street art.  When you're practising a craft, you naturally just bump into others with the same passion, so this is where it all began.....the rest is history.

Describe what you create? We do a range of products. Tees, Limited Edition Screen-prints, Lightboxes, Artworks, Tea-towels, Tote Bags.

What inspires you? It's hard to pin down inspirations, as we are all individuals with very different influences. The positive of working together is that we all to a certain degree inspire each other, or at the very least offer criticism.  To name a few: Contemporary Design, Graffiti Culture, Music, Decoration, Installation Art, Pop Culture.

What are your favourite materials to use? We use spray-paint a lot, this is our main material. We spend alot of time cutting stencils by hand (hence the name Cut Collective).  But we also do a lot of silk screen work, and computer based work.

What would you say is your biggest achievement to date? Our group show at the Auckland Art Gallery and our Colab show with Via Grafik (from Germany) at the New Dowse in Lower Hutt.

Do you have any future plans for your work? Our next move (after our show in Dunedin at the end of the year) is to really focus on international presence. We would love to travel, paint and exhibit overseas as a group.

Where are your favourite places on-line?
www.ffffound.com
www.juxtapoz.com
http://www.everfreshstudio.com/blog/
http://blog.vandalog.com/
http://streetarse.co.nz/

What kind of music do you enjoy listening to while you work, if any? We tune into Base FM alot here in the studio. Current thrashings include: Erykah Badu, J Dilla, Electric Wire Hustle.

If you could go back in time and give on piece of advice to yourself when you started, what would it be? Have no regrets or hesitations, just go for it. Everything happens for a reason, and we wouldn't be where we are now, had we not gone through all the ups and downs of working together as a collective.


What do you enjoy doing when you aren't busy making your wares? Spending time with families.