Artist Interview – Dcydes
Firstly who are you and where & how did you grow up?
Hey, My names Daniel Cydes I’m a Muralist from Sydney’s Inner-west.
I grew up In the Blue Mountains heavily immersed within the graffiti and Hip-hop scene.
How do you think this affected you on your journey towards being an artist?
Where I’m from contributes massively to who I am and how I express myself as an artist.
The Mountains has an extremely rich creative culture that embraces all types of art forms and people from each demographic, this played a major role in my story as it gave me and many other young people a sense of community, direction, and support.
When/How did you know you wanted to be a graffiti/mural artist?
I started tagging when I was about 10-11 and from that point, I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
I stopped being a bomber early on and got heavily into piecing, this slowly transitioned to being more and more like the murals I create now.
How did you learn to do what you do?
I was super lucky, I’ve had many different mentors in my time and through practice and watching them paint I’ve been able to grow to where I am now.
Your favourite or most inspirational place/spot you have painted?
My favourite spot would have to be a secret wall my friends and I used to paint called the dojo, as there are no legal walls in the mountains you have to find secret spots to practice. That and the slums of Nepal, painting there is unlike anywhere else, everybody loves it.
Do you any stories that stick out over the years, that you could share with us or perhaps a certain memorable project you have painted?
Many that I can’t share but a memorable project for me would be the 3 story wall I painted in Nepal, I did it on Bamboo scaffolding and cut through the tendon on my painting index finger by accident so I had to complete half the mural with my left hand haha.
What/Who are some of the inspirations for you and your art?
My crew and painting friends have been the biggest inspiration for my art,
that and all the shades of the human experience; life, death, love, pain, joy, sex, drugs, highs and lows, connection, and Nature.
Did this help guide you to where you are today?
Massively, If I didn’t have the support network of my Crew, I think I would have dealt with the difficulties of life in far more destructive ways.
What are your personal goals now and in the future as a professional artist?
I would like to make more time to do free walls preferably large scale, make more painting videos, explore more mediums and try to be as original as possible.
Tell us a little about how you like to work. (Alone, with others, in phases, details, etc…)
Depends on how I’m feeling on the day, I usually work alone but I get a lot of joy out of collaborating with other artists.
What direction do you feel your art is going?
I have absolutely no clue, hoping to explore portraiture in a more stylised direction but not really sure where that will take me or what it will look like.
What’s the biggest misconception other people have of artists who use spray paint?
That we’re going to mug you, be a bad influence on your children and that we’re all criminals.
What are your thoughts on the whole graffiti vs street art battle?
I think all art in the streets is a positive thing for humanity,
unfortunately, people like to feel as if their art form is on a higher level and has a deeper purpose because it has more culture, money, clout, success or whatever but in reality we’re all just ape descendants floating on a rock in space.
If you could share a message with the next generation of artists, what would it be?
Have fun, experiment and make as many friends as possible.
There any up and coming artists that we should keep an eye out for?
There’s a lot of talent out there most are of the names mentioned are not necessarily young but are very fresh such as;
Hugotees, Antonio Lazarus, itsjordache, Ohtis, PGR crew, Jimbo, The Brightsiders, Jordan Lucky, Nitsua too many to name
Any shouts out you you would like to give?
Thanks to Scott Nagy, Ghost, Grils, Alex Grilanc, Phuckos, Mahtous, Krimsone, Kula, Smerk, Chasm, Jonoe, Polar, Verms, Sider, Inovis, Kennafilms, Adam Scarf Photography, Knoswet, Shmick, for being absolute legends and for inspiring me.
Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to seeing more of your amazing work
You can find more of Dcydes work at:
