Strafe (strahf, strayf) v. bombard, attack with gunfire

Always a prolific artist, Strafe’s infatuation with aerosol began in 2003 after seeing a friend’s ‘blackbook’ graffiti designs. Her first street stencils were quick to follow and became an absorbing nocturnal activity quite independent of her formal Creative Arts degree. The wealth of talent in Melbourne’s street art scene contributed to her desire to produce thought provoking stencil designs.

Strafe’s early single layer stencils have given way to multi-layered pieces, often composed of individually placed elements. Her street work has resulted in a steady flow of gallery exhibitions, plus several commissioned pieces and walls. Strafe has also curated numerous group exhibitions.

While Strafe’s works reference hip-hop and graffiti culture, including lettering and text, they also contain nods to Modernist abstraction and to Art Deco and Art Nouveau. She interrogates the decorative versus the meaningful, and is inspired by architecture, ideology, propaganda and iconography. Her more recent gallery work has begun to exhibit a very clean, minimal aesthetic.

Nevertheless, Strafe avoids the neo-pop imagery associated with some stencil art. She wouldn’t be caught dead stenciling rockstars, bikini babes or scenes from Tarantino films.

http://strafe-unlimited.deviantart.com/

Many thanks to Susie for designing the front cover of this fortnight's issue of CT. Catch her at the Stencil Festival this month, see Highlights section for more info.
(Photo of Strafe by Pixxil).