The creativity of sticker artists from around the world was on display earlier this month at the Salvaged Sticker Art Show in Lone Butte.
Gallery owner and sticker artist Live-D D’evil said he was so focused on getting the show together it was not until the week before that he suddenly realized he needed to concentrate on promoting it a bit.
The gallery is covered by the work of over 300 artists. Walls, end tables, a bar stool, sofa and even a phone are part of the overall effect. It took about a year to get to this point said D’evil.
The floor and ceiling are still bare at the moment. His goal is to fill them for next year, he said.
D’evil said the first stickers in a display like this go up easy. Put big stickers up first and then start to fill it in with smaller pieces. It’s when he gets down to the smaller spaces it becomes time-consuming finding a sticker that works best.
“A puzzle in a way. A puzzle that is not determined but you have to figure out how to put it together, there’s no right answer,” said D’evil.
When stickers first became widely available, people realized it was an easy way to make art and display it. D’evil encourages people to try their hand at making a sticker when they visit his studio. He supplies the blank stickers and markers. Afterwards, the person can add their art to the collection or take it home with them.
“If you have fun doodling, you can make stickers.”
A box of stickers at the front door offers untold discoveries for anyone wanting to take a sample of the sticker world home with them. The free stickers are made up of a variety of artists.
D’evil’s stickers are everywhere through trading and travelling. He loves spots already hit up with stickers that have a “sticker spot” vibe.
When you live in the city, he said, it’s nice to be able to walk down the street and see things changing all the time.
D’evil said he always notices when a sign is cleaned off or a new sticker artist is in town.
“I can basically see where they’ve walked. A sticker here, a sticker there,” he laughed.
“As a non-artist, as somebody who is just looking at it from the outside, I think the collaborative nature of it is the most interesting and inspiring,” said D’evil’s wife, Heather Sinclair.
It’s a medium where people trade stickers all around the world and put up each other’s stickers in different places, send each other photos and then collaborate to do images together. People meld their styles and come up with images that are a blend of each artist, she said.
D’evil also enjoys the travelling aspect of the sticker community.
If he puts a post on Instagram saying he is going to be in New York, someone will reply ‘Hey, want to meet up, trade stickers, want me to show you around, need somewhere to stay?’
Now that the show is done, he is looking forward to sending things out to other shows.
“This was like a dry run. Next year is going to be really good.”
To learn more check out D’evil on Instagram: @salvagedstickerartshow.
fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net
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