“Niz is a Peruvian born female stencil artist based out of Austin, Texas.
She is known for her mutli-layered photo-realistic stencil work and skateboard art. Niz’s work draws from elements of graffiti, hip hop culture, existentialism and spirituality. She finds her expression through old world Latin culture, African-American music, the female aesthetic, skateboarding and urban grit. The photorealism of Niz’s stencils is often offset by a grittiness and texture that mirrors the urban landscapes she is familiar with.
Her work has been published in several books: Stencil Nation (San Francisco), Heart and Soul (New York), 400ml. Do It Yourself (France), Austin: East of I35 (Austin, TX) and HOPE Outdoor Gallery (Austin, TX). Her work has also been featured on The Carson Daily Show, The Austin American Statesman, The Huffington Post, The Austin Chronicle and Concrete Wave Magazine to name a few. Notable clients have included XX, Mike Judge, Red Bull and Martha Cooper.”
A little about the project
“The barn project is for a guy named John Bird. He’s a retired movie producer and art aficionado. He has a lot of interesting art all over his horse ranch property.
The whole barn took several months. The inspiration behind the Apocalypto and Wolf paintings was to revisit the human instinct of fear and adrenaline and conquest. The Apocalypto scene involves a moment where the conquering Aztecs are hunting a man down and have to jump a waterfall in order to kill a neighboring tribesman. Facing them is John Wayne as a Spanish conquistador who will eventually conquer them. The wolf painting simulates walking into a situation where you know you’re life is in danger.
The other 2 murals (The Lone Ranger and Cat Ballou) are a salute to the Wild West.
My client was pretty clear about what he wanted but it did get me on the topic of human instinct and fear which I’ve been playing with since.”
Photos & Video by: Chris Drazah
