SAXON DUKE
Saxon Duke interviewed by Gai Lively for INK NURSE
“Saxon Duke (b 1983), is a multidisciplinary artist from Sydney, Australia. He uses rhythmic, expressive, primal patterns combined with vivid colours to create his own visual narrative.
With a graffiti background, Saxon has a fond interest in curvilinear forms, a format he finds pleasing to the eye and a French exit from the mundane. Saxon is inspired by the chaotic energy and brightness often found in the most beautiful of places, the streets. His reaction to the abundance of daily distractions.”
GL: Where are you getting all the fire extinguishers from?
SD: Well Gumtree if anyone asks.. Nah just somewhere near Green square.
GL: Do they just have lots of them ?
SD: It's like a big development site outdoors.
GL: So they haven’t all been used to put out fires ?
SD: haha nah, I was taking one home everyday after Jiu Jitsu, but then I just ended up going back with my car and grabbing 25.
GL: I heard after letting some off at home the other day you got to meet some firemen…
SD: Yeah I thought there was fire so I let off about half a dozen of them, the police were very upset but the 'fireies' said it was actually important to know how to use them.
GL: I’ve seen a lot of people using fire extinguishers to paint, but not a lot of people painting on fire extinguishers.
SD: That is true.
GL: Just from walking around the studio I can see that pink is in, but what’s next? This is the real question.
SD: I dunno, I like doing darker colours and what not - but people don't seem to like the grim ones, I just do what sells (both laugh)...
GL: Art Mooooney!
SD: Sell out haha
GL: Cash in!
GL: When I got here today I really liked that bush sculpture, did you make that as well or….
SD: I found it down the road on the side of the sea shore.
GL: So what was it? I thought it was a huge ice cream sundae.
SD: It was just a garden sculpture I believe, I think it's meant to be fruit, well it looked like fruit before I started on it.
GL: How did Covid affect you selling art ?
SD: Definitely has affected it, I was selling enough to live off per week before and then it just stopped. But then there are people who have gainful employment that make a fair bit of money that have nothing to spend it on so they are still buying stuff.
GL: Everyones spending more time at home..
SD: Yeah I’m selling more bigger pieces but not as frequently. The small ones are good though coz its quick cash and I can pump em out.
GL: Are people coming to pick them up or are you running down to the post office everyday?
SD: Pretty much a half and half mixture of people coming to pick up and the rest I’m posting off. Sometimes the person will come to look at the painting 4 times before they buy it but that’s only with the bigger ones, people wanna see things a few times before they commit.
GL: I was trying to sell a printer once and the dude came 3 times before he still didn’t buy it (both laugh)...
GL: What do you put on those tough stickers?
SD: Ink Nurse, obviously.
