Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of street artist Miso by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Miso. I like the soup. And I love the work by the artist who goes by this name.

Miso is a street artist in Melbourne. She, yes she, is nowhere near a run of the mill street artist. For starters, she's not a guy. Instantly sets her apart. And then she creates in paper. Yes, paper, of all mediums. Thin newsprint, posca markers, acrylic paint, a stanley knife and wheat paste.

I'd seen her work around for ages, but hadn't quite clicked that what I was seeing and liking was the work of one artist. Until I went along to see a screening of "Melbourne Ink" by French duo Romain & Julien, which is a documentary on the graffiti/street art scene in Melbourne. It's full of characters and there's plenty of the egotistical, macho guys with spray cans who've mastered how to write their made-up name in a fancy way (congratulations, you may now graduate from kindergarten).

And then there was Miso. Someone really contributing ephemeral beauty to the city. Whimsical, poetic, sublime, almost mythical images to ponder or just make you smile.

My favourite part of the film was the scene where Miso is walking along a street at night carrying a reusable shopping bag. She stops, pulls out a drawing on paper, unrolls it up against the wall, reaches into the shopping bag again, pulls out a wide brush covered in paste, and paints the glue over the picture, sticking it to the wall. Then puts the brush back in the pot in the bag, picks up the bag, and continues on walking.

Super.

 

More Miso links

Her Flickr stream is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/city_of_reubens/sets/72157594452840186/

Her blog is here:

http://cityofreubens.com/

There's a great interview with her here:
http://www.thedesignfiles.net/2009/09/interview-miso.html

And another great one here:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/2579328699_8e225477d1_o.jpg

 

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me. 

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.