Editon 1: Illuminaries
If you live in the bay and are a Warriors/Giants/49ers fan you may already know who the Illumaries are. For the uninitiated (or those who don’t have a googling device) Steve Ha, Tim Hon and Romali Licudan are together THE ILLUMINARIES - a group of street artists who turned their love for art and everything Bay Area into beautiful murals. Dolo is proud to be featuring their artwork on our pre-rolls. We sat down with the slick crew to learn about their process.
How did you get started as a crew?
I wouldn't really call us a crew. The idea of crews was a little off-putting to us because it meant someone was "in" or "out." So I'm not sure what you call us then. We love collaborating with many and all types of artists. Originally the name illuminaries came many decades ago when we thought we were rappers :). A Luminary is someone who shines and lights the way, or projects a vision forward. We riffed off that word, because our motivation is to inspire people and create joy. Steve and I (Tim) grew up vandalizing stuff in high school, learning from what we saw on the street. We had many inspirations all around us who have shaped our path: Crayone, Vogue, Dream, Bukue, Estria, Ceav... and many more. So much talent in the bay it's hard not to get inspired.After various legal battles and large mandatory donations to county corrections departments we hung up our hats, grew up a little, then revisited the graffiti game around 2006. At that point, the painting tools had changed, and got better. We worked on our craft and set high goals and kept on the hustle.
What influenced your crews style?
One of the core ideas of hip hop, in my opinion, is breaking the rules to create something new. It's evident in dance, music, and art. That has always been the prime motivation for me ... how can I bend or break the rules to go above and beyond. We don't always succeed, but that's what drives us. As much as any other young aspiring graffiti writers, we've studied the art coming out the subways of NY and Chicago, the legal walls in Oakland and SF, and artists from Germany, Portugal, Bulgaria, ... all over Europe. In the 2000's when graffiti was under heavy attack by law enforcement around the nation, Europe embraced it and brought the mural game to a new level. All the new spray paints that has elevated our art form came from Europe. They mixed traditional graffiti style with other genres, and so new styles of street art have emerged.
What's your stance on public art?
The more the better. Anything is better than a blank wall. The majority of architecture and buildings around urban and suburban America is bland, boring, uninspiring, and depressing, compared to the structures nature produces. Then, companies add to the disgust by bolting billboards onto every rooftop possible. Public art is as important as freedom of speech, in an attempt for common people to take back and shape our own environment.
How does cannabis play in your life and your work?
About half of the folks in our group utilize cannabis heavily during art creation as a way to find their zone and generate ideas. It allows you to look at something you're working on from different angles, and think about it from another perspective. Sometimes we all sit around and just stare at a mural we're working on, and the direction could totally change. Cannabis helps you become more open to other people's ideas and not be so greedy about who's ideas should be used.