When does a person become an artist? The consensus would probably be that it’s an evolutionary process, but there’s often a pivotal moment that sparks the creative desire into life, after which nothing is the same again. Of course, once that fire is lit, it can be both a source of great power but also one demanding great sacrifice and struggle. Urban artists RISK and Nathan Ota are exploring their lives around the time they were bitten by the graffiti bug, and asking themselves how life would have been different if they had chosen a different path, in the Innocence Lost show at Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, California.
The pair have been painting together ever since they met in high school, and Innocence Lost is an invitation to meet the adolescents and for the artists to reconnect with their former and alternative selves. RISK is re-approaching his Collateral Damage series, while Nathan’s new paintings deliver childlike imagery with a grown-up edge. The show runs 15 February to 8 March.
© RISK / Nathan Ota
Courtesy, Corey Helford Gallery
