Meet Murdoc: A Sydney Street Artist

 Anonymously painting the streets of Sydney since the age of 14, Murdoc has progressed from graffiti to stencil art in order to further portray his message. We spoke to Murdoc about his influences, his work and his anonymity.

When did you start creating art and why?

As a kid I always had a pencil or a pen in my hand, I just loved creating no matter what it was. Around the age of about 14 or so I started writing, I had a few older friends that were in a very popular crew from the area that helped me get started. I got hooked.

You focus on stencil art as a medium. Why did you make the transition to stencil from graffiti? What do you like about stencil art?

I felt I wasn’t using my full potential writing graffiti. At one point I was changing my word all the time just for new letters to paint. I started creating stencil art mainly to portray more of a message through the art but I didn’t want to lose that graffiti attitude. As you can imagine graffiti and stencil art are quite different, so not everyone understood my vision at first but as time went on they started to understand.

How important it is to your art to remain anonymous?

It’s really important to me. The main thing is I don’t want to get caught, but other than that the identity really doesn’t matter. If I call myself an artist, my identity really has nothing to do with it. I personally try to only judge artists on the art itself and not their private life, wealth or identity. So I decided to take that path.

Are there any artists that inspire your work?

Yeah for sure, artists such as Kidult, Banksy, Pejac, Blek and Os Gemeos definitely inspire me to be myself and stay true to my beliefs and inspiration. Kidult is great, straight to the point and doesn’t try to soften anything up.

What types of locations do you look for to paint?

I try to find walls in populated areas with pretty good exposure to the public. I love spots where the art can compliment the wall itself or an object on the street, for example the other night I painted a plumber fixing an old toilet that was left on the street.

How would you compare outdoor art to other forms?

There’s nothing better than painting in the streets. I love knowing your going out of your way risking everything just to get your message across to the public. Without being censored or restricted, you have the ability to really connect with people. There’s nothing like it.

What is street art like in Sydney/what kind of presence is there?

Sydney is cool in its own way and is constantly progressing. Predominantly still dominated by graffiti but still has some great artists around. The inner west has a strong graffiti and street art scene but if your comparing Sydney to on an international scale like Los Angeles or Barcelona, we still have a lot of work to do.

What inspires your art?

I’m really inspired by Artists like Gorillaz, Banksy, Kendrick and J Cole. I love how they put their art before anything and stay true to their beliefs; they don’t sacrifice the art for money or easy success. I really think that’s rare in this day and age.

How has your work progressed from when you first began? What are some of the most important things you’ve learned?

My work has progressed quite a bit since I started stenciling, I feel like it has a bit more depth and connection to the public than some of my earlier pieces. I’ve learned to always try to look outside the box, to be as original as possible, and always learn from my experiences and others.

What are your plans for future work?

I have a few things coming up at the moment that I’m excited about. I’m currently filming a short video that will be coming out on YouTube soon, with a trailer coming out shortly before. I have a group show with Tortuga Studios in Sydney on 19^th May called “With a Rebel Yell”. I’m also working on a web store for my website that will be selling custom graffiti markers, painting gloves and street apparel. There will also be some exclusive paintings and prints on there too.

Thanks, Murdoc! 

Images courtesy of Murdoc

Find more of his work at: globalstreetart.com/Murdoc