Faces of South America | Crisp

How does a qualified physiotherapist from Australia end up as one of Bogotá’s most highly respected graffiti artists?

I don’t know about ‘highly respected’, but I do get asked a lot about my professional past! The truth is, my parents are both artists and art was always a private passion of mine – I’d fill sketchpads with my drawings and found inspiration everywhere I travelled. Street art has always fascinated me – the variety of materials used, the scale of the pieces, their public nature and the often controversial themes that it can cover – though it was only when I visited Colombia in 2009 that a Canadian graffiti writer called Opek encouraged me to explore how I could start undertaking projects myself. From there, Crisp – my alter ego – was born and my work can be found across the capital and in other cities around the world. In fact, I just got back from Art Basel Miami where I was invited to do a live demonstration and a couple of other murals.

Bogotá doesn’t always spring to mind when we are talking about the great graffiti cities of the world – how has the scene changed since you first arrived?

I would describe Bogotá as one of the world’s most underrated or perhaps unknown urban art cities and nothing brings me greater pleasure than the surprised look on visitors’ faces when they see the fantastic pieces that can be found here. Sure, it isn’t yet Williamsburg, Buenos Aires or parts of East London, but it is probably one of the most prolifically covered cities in the world. Unlike some other destinations, a lot of the artists here are doing it purely out of personal passion – it isn’t as monetised as in other places – which means that there is a more grass roots honesty in the themes covered.