5 questions with Anto Christ

As with many discoveries of artists, the 2095 chick first fell head over heals in love with Anto Christ at ....yep, you guessed it already: PM3.

The first thing that struck the 2095'er was the apparent random use of colours and she was immediately thrown back to school when marbling was one of the more personally favoured mandatory "art" classes (not that the 2095'er ever felt she had an artistic bone in her being other than to admire and wish she could be as good as others, such was the self-imposed perfectionist state she had at that age....ahh where would we be without the beauty of hindsight).

As with many images captured, when in the confines of home and revelling in the days' activities, the 2095'er found herself constantly looking at these images in an almost trance-like state.  

The more she looked, the more the 2095'er became captivated with its intricacy, the "layers" of complexity and the cleverness of the artist.

It wasn't until about a year later that the 2095'er and her street-art play-date friend were wandering the streets of the Inner West, that they stumbled across (well let's get real here: you never actually "stumble" across anything when on the hunt.  You know the streets, you walk past them in the hope that perhaps a new wall has gone up and then leave it a while, hoping and praying for something fresh to appear say within the next 10000 days or so) the most incredible wall to be had in a very long time.

As luck would have it, it was late afternoon with those annoying shadows "ruining" what could have been THE perfect image, so close ups were needed, if nothing else other than to say "we got it!".

Here are my 5 questions with the amazing multi-dimensional artist Anto Christ.

Who is Anto Christ

My name is Anto and the Christ came after.  I create other worlds and in that world I am the God.  

So I am Anto Christ.

Your use of colour is extravagant, absolutely in your face (in the nicest possible way) and unforgettable.  What is it about fluro that appeals to you so much

I believe that colour awakens the soul and de-programmes anyone who is experiencing it.  By "de-programming" I mean changing their perspective on looking a certain way to participate in this society. I feel like people are afraid to wear certain colours because it's "out there" but I think that's such a cop out.

Who is to say what's normal and what isn't?!  I really don't care what people think of me. And I don't believe we should all look the same to fit in because everyone is different.

I gave in to expectations when I was growing up and I was very unhappy because I could never live up to them.  I could never fit into the "box" they were trying to create for me.  I choose to express myself through clothes because I am a canvas; and I also have the right to express myself however I see fit in this reality.

No one has the right to judge others for their race, sexuality and something as shallow as a piece of clothing...but it happens.  I hear of kids getting killed in other countries for dressing as an "Emo".  This to me is extreme. Not the clothing I am wearing.

Colours inspire me every day and it also opens up a dialogue with the public.  I have met the most amazing people through the act of self-adornment.  I call it "Adornism".  I don't follow fashion trends and I am weary of buying most of the new products that are out there on the market.  Not only are they made poorly, but the people who are making them are working in less than ideal conditions and not being paid properly for the work they are doing because of the big corporations that are trying to cut down on their costs.

I enjoy wearing vintage fashion because I can also alter the pieces to suite my style. I am attracted to textures and details like embroidery. I am an Adornist through and through.

Street artist, Performance Artist & Designer.  Do you keep these persona's separated and when does Anto Christ simply become the person without the makeup who chills, watches tv and takes time to "be"

I don't really have that much of a separation between these things and I don't really see things as a persona (except for my crochet pieces).  I am Anto 24/7, just different degrees of me I guess. 

I could never be anything else really.  A lot of people ask me what I'm "dressed up" for, but I don't seeing it as dressing up.  This just happens to be my taste.

My makeup takes around 20 minutes to do and it takes me around 15 minutes to choose an outfit.  It's normal to me and comes very naturally.  Obviously when I'm at home, I'm usually in my underwear creating and watching movies.  My bedroom is pretty much my studio.  I can spend more time on creating than travelling to and from.

But I am an artist who really lives their work.  I don't have a separation and I don't put on an act.  I just "am" all the time.  When I was much younger and tried wearing convention outfits it just didn't look right on me and I felt very uncomfortable in my skin.  I guess it's all about perspective really.

I span the genres when it comes to mediums I choose to work with but I look at it all as a whole.  The paintings, the clothing, the designs and sculpture are all one thing really

Your collab with Atlas Mapps is extraordinarily beautiful, complex and one (that as a photographer) need to be looked at and often for each time we do we find something new.  How long did it take to not only plan but create this wonderwall

Atlas Mapps is an extraordinary and prolific artist.  I think we have both been influenced by each other and always dreamt of doing a collaboration.  Because I was leaving the country (Australia), we decided to finally do it and our friend Pat's parents actually own the wall and gave us permission to do something that wasn't a tag of someone's name.

We wanted to give something back to Newtown because that place gave us so much inspiration.  We had no plan with the image per se.  We gathered all the materials we could find around us and just really let loose on the wall.

We threw paint on, finger painted and saw things emerging out of the colours that were before us.  Atlas Mapps used really unconventional materials like crayons and glitter as well as acrylics.  I don't even think we fully finished it but I guess that's the magic of the piece.  

It's constantly changing because the sun will affect it as time goes on.

When can we see some more of Anto Christ's work in Australia???!!! (pretty please with sugar on top we BEG you to come back soon!)

Australia will always be my home.  And I will come back eventually, but for now I have lots of work to do with Casio Ono out here in Berlin.

The Colour Parade (see more "here") will still be happening in Sydney & Melbourne but unfortunately I won't be there but stayed tuned for your next Colour Parade Event!

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From Australia to Berlin, the 2095 chick thanks Anto Christ for not only her time, photos and insight but for bringing some much needed colour and antiestablishmentariasm in to our lives in that it's ok to live outside that square of conformity!

Keep up with Anto Christ's happenings

click "here" to visit her website

or you can listen to some Party Relaxation 

with both Anto Christ and Casio Ono "here"