We recently connected with The 143 and have shared our conversation below.

Hi The 143 , thanks for joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Society looks at graffiti artist as criminals, low lives in other words, frowned upon. Being labeled as a graffiti artist and also doing legal mural work has its ups and downs. Some if not all of the graff community don’t really respect your legal work. That’s cause graffiti is considered to be “no permission” When I first started doing commissioned walls, I’ve had a few people reject my work due to my only artwork portfolio at the time was graffiti on the streets of NYC. As I got older and did more legal walls I learned to keep graffiti and my professional artwork separate. It’s still a learning process and I enjoy it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hello I am 143, I am a self taught artist born and raised in Flushing Queens, New York. I’ve been an artist all my life far back as elementary school. That’s where I first discovered graffiti. I had classmates who were always doodling letters which was very intriguing to me especially at that age. Graffiti led to everything else, it taught me things school would never teach you. Similar to what others like to call “Street smart”
By the time I reached highschool, I wanted to leave my name anywhere i could. That brought such an enjoyment to my life also the adrenaline of not getting caught made it more of a fun challenge. Like playing your favorite video game and not dying before reaching another level.
Graffiti led to many downs in my life I started getting arrested. Being away from my family, Not waking up for school cause I was out all night painting. Losing relationships, addictions. All these setbacks made me realize that I need to make something out of my skill. I now dedicate my time to creating Logos/Designs for clients, as well as mural work, Which I have been doing well over 8 years now. I’ am part of an arts collective from Queens NY called Unfamous NY. Unfamous NY gives opportunities to artist to showcase their arts as well as providing a creative space and events for the community.
What sets me apart from other artist is that I consider myself to be versatile. I don’t stick to just one medium I do multiple and incorporate it in my work. Typography, Portraits, graphic design. Acrylic on canvas, large scale, Mural work. I realized it opens more opportunities to other projects and not just be a subject to 1 medium.

Few things I’D like to let anyone reading this know. Nothing great comes easy. You must put in the work that goes for everything in life, not just being an artist. Also don’t give up on your goals and dreams, and sketches. If the people around you don’t agree or see your visions then you are hanging around the wrong people. Better yet keep your ideas to yourself until they come into fruition. Two quotes that have stuck with me since I started this journey.

1. “If you do something you love you won’t have to work a day in your life”

2. “Saddest thing in life is wasted talent”

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The transition from graffiti artist to commissioned artist was a bit of a difficult task I had to overcome on my own. Your best teacher is experience it’s the only way you actually learn. In the beginning of my journey I had a lot of potential clients going with other people’s work or constantly being told NO. There were a lot of days I felt like giving up finding a new way of income. I never gave up even after all those rejections in fact I used it as fuel to push through.I taught myself that NO means new opportunities. Now I have an awesome portfolio of my past work and have even done album covers for musicians. Good things happen when you never give up on yourself. Believe in what you do because if you don’t who will?

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an Artist is definitely the feedback. Hearing my clients tell me how happy they are with their new wall or Logo/design. I love to hear when a client tell me they love my work and would definitely hire me or recommend me to anyone looking for artwork for their business. Also receiving pictures of my work. It can lighten any artist day for sure.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Thee_143
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MR-143ASR

Image Credits

No credits all pictures are taken by me