Helen Soteriou went to Bristol to talk to street art’s most romantic artist. Hear Copyright talk about roses, romance, and Kate Moss.

Helen Soteriou: Did you go to art school?
Copyright: I did go to art school but I studied photography, and with kids around me making art, I got into the habit of using other people’s materials and mashing stuff up and painting and basically it stuck.


What does the pink rose symbolise, if anything?
The graffiti of the pink roses started when I moved to London. I just wanted something to say ‘Hey, I’m in London’ and to start getting an image up.

The pink roses are a really quick, really simple way to make a shitty wall look nicer. In that way they just symbolise beauty in the darkest places.

I started doing all the street art in the daytime and not skulking in the shadows and all of a sudden, something you do at night time that feels very criminal, you are doing in the daytime and it feels like a normal thing to do and people come and talk to you.

Do you spray everywhere you go?
This year there has been a lot less just because I have had other commitments and this is what it comes down to, which is sad because the roses are what I started out doing and they are what I’m about. I feel like I should put them up everywhere but there hasn’t been the time as paintings for shows have taken over.


Do you ever go back and play around with the pieces that you have sprayed?
I have gone back and painted over pieces before because I have not been happy with them. Most pieces I do I revisit and most of the time they are always f~ked or tagged …and that is kind of the charm of it and you expect that to happen. 



How would you describe your style?
Bitter sweet.

I guess the difference between Copyright and a lot of the other stencil artists are that I’m not interested in making any political statements. What I’m trying to do is something constructive and say ‘look over here, it is beautiful here’.

Would you call yourself a romantic person?
Nah, no way (wink).


Who and what inspires you?
The usual shit, art, music, romance.


How do you come-up with your ideas?
These days they seem to take longer and longer to get down, probably because I’m a lot more picky, which is probably a good thing though.

It usually comes from a small idea, maybe I get from a song I’ve been listening to, or something I’ve seen, heard, or read. I sometimes start with a very rough biro sketch, then I work up the idea a few times, and if it works visually too then I’ll work out the best way to paint it, if not, it hits the bin.

You are also known for female images, some of them are quite provocative -are they based on someone or are they imagined?
There not consciously based on one person, a few people tell me a lot of them look like my misses, but they are made from composites of body parts from lots of women. I keep an archive of different body parts (yeah, I know that sounds weird) and put the right bits together that fit the pose or expression I want to make.


Can you tell me about the Kate Moss inspired prints?
Some of my earliest paintings were of Kate. She had something about her that I always thought was more than just a pretty face in a magazine, something that I really wanted to paint, I can’t really describe it. Maybe it’s something really profound, maybe it’s just because she’s hot.


How long does it take you to complete one piece?
As you can imagine it varies from piece to piece, but probably about a week a piece, usually spread over several weeks so I can work on a few pieces at any one time, painting a bit on one whilst another bit dries on another.

You have recently designed a collection of skateboards. How did this come about?
It’s actually something I organised myself, rather than something I was asked to do. Skateboards and skateboard graphics were probably the first pieces of artwork that I felt like I really wanted to own as a kid in the 80s. So I’ve been painting my own stuff on decks for years now without really thinking about it too hard. More recently I’ve been having some of the artwork laser etched into the decks. I love how the laser changes the function from useable deck to purely aesthetic. 


Who buys your work? Do you have a type of buyer? What type of messages do you get in your inbox?
90 percent of the time I never get to actually meet the buyers, but I do get a lot of feedback in my inbox, all good stuff, and lots of art students asking me questions about my art. Bit weird to me as I never studied art.


Do you get the same type of rush from canvas as you do from walls?
It’s different but I def. get a rush from painting canvases, it’s like drinking tea instead of coffee, it takes longer to kick in.



What are your plans for the future?
Next year I have another solo in London and something in the US. That is the goal, to work in the states.



More on Copyright at www.cantcopyright.co.uk