Made in Shoreditch caught up with the Superhero who goes around Shoreditch with a spray can painting giant characters… The One, The Only, Captain Kris.
BM: First of all can you tell us how you came about with the name Captain Kris?
CK: My name is Kris. I achieved the title of Captain as a result of a genetic experiment which gave me superhuman powers to draw and paint large scale murals. I was born a long time ago in the past, during this time I was put in charge of leading a team of unruly yet loyal ragtag artists into an epic drawing battle, at which time I was given the Captain title. Unfortunately during the battle I was knocked off stage and fell into an Icy cavern where I remained trapped in a state of cryostasis until I awoke in present day London.
BM: Can you tell us about your art: What do you do? What inspired you to start?
CK: Comic books, video-games and cartoons have always been a big inspiration for me and the kind of art I create. I think it’s massively important to look at more traditional forms of painting and drawing to get a better understanding of composition and get a feel for your own technique but I love painting giant colourful open mouthed slightly aggressive looking characters all over the place. The bigger the better.
BM: Over the last 18 months you can have become quite prominent within the Shoreditch street art scene with your collective the Lost Souls. Who are the Lost Souls and how did it all begin?
CK: The Lost Souls are myself, SPZero76, Squirl and SiMitchell. I asked Keith (SPZero76) to come and paint at a night I was running in Camden, he couldn’t make it to that but suggested we link up and paint something with the other boys so we ended up at Leake Street tunnel a few weeks later when it was snowing, painting weird characters riding Yaks freezing our faces off. We all got on and it worked so we kept doing it.
BM: What were your most successful projects so far, or what projects did you enjoy the most so far?
CK: I’ve had a pretty amazing but hectic 2014. I met and collaborated with tonnes of new artists, organised a massive jam for my birthday in Shoreditch, got to work with some great new clients like AnyForty, Nike and I’m now running Secret Walls in London. My favourite piece painted this year was with The Real Dill in Camden, it got filmed and aired for a split second clip in an episode of 24 as well.
BM: Tell us a bit more about your current project?
CK: I’ve got some exciting new stuff coming in the New Year (2015) which involves quite a bit of travelling. The next thing I’m finishing up though is running the Secret Walls tournament with two big live art battles for the Semis and final coming up in January 2015, Corbet Place Bar in The Old Truman Brewery, Shoreditch.
BM: How would you describe the art scene in Shoreditch? Why is it unique?
CK: It’s gotten to the point where I call it the Shoreditch triangle because you can’t seem to escape it. I think it’s quite over saturated if I’m honest but at the same time it’s an interesting place with an ever changing art scene. I just love to paint and I think everyone should just do what they want to do. When you’re painting and boozing on the street in the summer with loads of mates around it’s pretty vibing.
BM: Who are your favourite artists?
CK: I paint with most of them but anyone who’s doing their thing and smashing it. I’m always a big fan of anything bold and graphic.
BM: What are your future plans?
CK: Save the World. Get the Girl. Paint Everything.
You can follow Captain Kris via;
Twitter: @kristiandouglas
Instagram: @captainkris
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/captainkrisyo
Tumblr: http://thecaptainkris.tumblr.com
Blog: http://www.kristiandouglas.blogspot.co.uk
Website: www.kristiandouglas.com
For information about the forthcoming Secret Walls London events, check out their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SecretWallsLondon