Montana LOOKBOOK #08 / 2023

MC
What was your favorite Montana BLACK Artist Edition
can previous to your own?
LAIA
I don’t have a distinct favorite can because there are
many that I like. Especially those where the design
incorporates the bare metal of the can and the color is
very metallic. I love those! I consider that they are all
incredible, so I cannot say some names and forget
others that also deserve it.
MC
You seem to have a healthy thirst for travel. In your
opinion, are you running to something, or running away
from something? What comes first, the destination, or
the reason to go there?
LAIA
Traveling is my Number 1 passion! Well actually traveling
and painting, so when the two things come together
it is incredible. My parents have always loved to travel,
so I started traveling when I was very young. They
always took me with them everywhere they went in the
world. It is like collecting, I need to collect memories of
places that I have visited and after visiting one place, I
need another, and another, and another.
I also believe that it is a very healthy way to escape the
monotony of day-to-day problems. And as a bonus,
when I travel I feel that I enrich my head and my person
with new experiences, cultures, smells, flavors, history,
etc. It is super enriching, no matter destiny. It only
matters to move my ass to the other side! I do not plan
to leave this earth until I have traveled over all of it!
MC
Of all the commercial projects you have worked on that
are graffiti based or related to graffiti, what were the
best and the worse?
I do not plan to leave this earth until
I have traveled over all of it!
LAIA
I don’t know how to explain exactly which is the worst or
best. Many people valuable the best because of the
amount of money or fame they have gained. Or the jobs
which made them the most famous within the game.
For me, the best jobs are those where I have learned the
most and was treated the best as a person. Even if I was
painting a freebie for example. Sometimes the best jobs
are the worst ones. And the worst the best.
I value the human treatment and interaction behind each
project and I have participated in other so-called incredible
projects in which I was left feeling empty inside when
they were over. There were other projects with very little
to no budget that I would do again even now.
MC
Where do you see the commercialization of graffiti
going? Do you think the artists are in control of their
destinies or is business steering public art of this type
in the direction they want it to go?
In general, I think it’s great that
everyone does what they want with
their work, I’m not one of those
writers who thinks that when you sell
your work “you’re no longer real”.
LAIA
Well, I think the world is going a little crazy with this. I
think businesses are running too much without knowing
what they are doing. For example, they have managed to
call anything “graffiti” now. There are too many “Graffiti”
festivals where the artists are muralists who have never
touched a spray can, and none of them say “Hey! We are
muralists, not graffiti writers”, because it suits them. So
it’s a cycle that doesn’t end and it is expanding. This
often leaves the graffiti writer in a bad place because
the world has now “learned” that graffiti is also a huge
face painted on a building with brushes. So why hire a
writer to draw some letters?
In general, I think it’s great that everyone does what they
want with their work, I’m not one of those writers who
thinks that when you sell your work “you’re no longer
real”. I don’t care, I sell my work and I’m doing projects, so
I’m marketing the work and myself. But I’m never going to
go away from my initial values ​and the great respect I
have for all of this that the writers like myself call graffiti.
I think you can have control of your work, it’s just about
accepting or rejecting the right things. Even though businesses
and institutions are directing this where they want.
MC
What is your favorite Montana Cap and can combination
and why?
LAIA
I always paint with Black and I only use two Caps. The
medium fat for filling, details, background, etc. And the
standard cap on the can for outlines and highlights.
Nothing more. When I started there was very little variety,
and I got used to it. I grew up like this. I don’t need more.
Some interesting perspectives and a lot to think about
for any artists entering the commercial space with their
artwork regardless of their gender. We can assume that
more artistically innovative and classic works are going
to come from the wonderful mind of LAIA. Will she ever
embrace the bubble background, and how will she steer
her passion and career from here? Watch this space…
26 Black Artist Edition/Interview Laia