KENT ARTIST AND MENTOR SAM GILES - KNOWN AS DREAM SAFARI - ON ABANDONED BUILDINGS AND THE QUEEN’S JUBILEE

With ties to towns across Kent, artist and mentor Sam Giles (@dream_safari) tells us how a career in the creative industries can stretch from melting Furbies on a firing range to an oak tree maypole at the Queen’s Jubilee…

HOW DID YOU GET INTO GRAFF/STREET ART IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Like a lot of teens, I left school and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was already sitting in parks and graveyards with my mates… *cough* experimenting. And at the time (2007) there were hundreds of us! We didn’t have anything to do. And although it seemed like we were just loitering around, up to no good, we listened to music, we made art, talked about philosophy and tried to understand who we were.

Things could’ve gone south pretty quickly if I didn’t have certain people in my life at the right time. Gill Wilson saw my potential and enrolled me on a course to build my portfolio and get me into art college. Lisa Oulton got me work when I was broke. Pat McDonald asked me if I wanted to paint after a rough night. And so it started, going to abandoned buildings and painting walls, instead of getting mashed all day long. Who would’ve thought it would lead to a career in the arts?

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE TO PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T SEEN IT?

I use collage as a quick way to smash ideas together and that might become a painting or a zine or mural later on… There’s usually some symbols, or a cartoon or a pop culture reference, but I’m trying to push myself to do something different every time. I think an artist is someone who is trying to challenge themselves and not get too comfortable. I think it’s a skill that can be learnt, like using a spray can, but the best artists are learning to accept themselves - follow their own voice.

Over the last couple of years Dream Safari has become more project work - making art for the public to enjoy, so now I have that and my personal work.

DO YOU HAVE ANY MAJOR INFLUENCES ON YOUR WORK?

When I was a young art student I stumbled into the wrong gallery on a school trip and I saw some work by Eduardo Paolozzi. It was sooo colourful and weird. Paolozzi made me realise I could cut up or rework anything! All of a sudden, everything was on the table. So I’m trying to absorb as much as possible: TV, movies, random books, toys, zines. People send me random images they think I’d like all the time. All these images are part of my ‘visual library’ that I can warp and distort etc.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE COMMISSIONED PIECE YOU HAVE ENJOYED THE MOST?

As well as painting murals I also do a lot of teaching and community-based art projects. I’ve worked with many local organisations [Strange Cargo, Future Foundry, Beach Creative, Emergency Exit Arts].

Jack Cant and I were invited by Ashford Borough Council to do a project with teenagers in Victoria Park. The workshops spanned over the summer holidays and culminated in a mural designed and painted with the kids. Over the weeks they all gained confidence, made friends, learnt new skills and became working artists. I really felt like we did something positive and at the end of the project we received cards with lovely messages and T-shirts from the kids. Everything about it was amazing. Every time I do a project like that, I’m floored by the positive power that making art can have. It can change lives for the better!

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE PIECE OF YOUR OWN WORK? IF SO, WHAT IS IT AND WHY?

My favourite piece at the moment is on the side of Linehan & Co in Rainham.

It was a challenge to flip the famous Vermeer painting Girl with a Pearl Earring and still make it look right. The owners are just so lovely and I hope the mural brings them more footfall.

WHERE HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO PAINT?

My favourite place to paint will always be abandoned buildings! It’s eerie and peaceful. It’s like being in another world. Even if it all goes wrong or if it’s never seen by anyone else, you take the memory with you. Like the one time I got caught painting a giant melting Furby [check this] in an old firing range by an army truck…

TELL US ABOUT THE LOSER GANG COLLECTIVE, WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT?

Oh, the loser-gang cult-freak collective? Loser Gang (@loser___gang) is a collective of people making art for themselves. Couple of years ago, I realised that I knew loads of very talented creative people that were into the same sort of stuff I was and, more importantly, they weren’t elitist in any way. The main message being it doesn’t matter where you come from... you have the ability to make good, meaningful art.

We sell T-shirts and occasionally put on ‘shows’, but I liken the walls to be like when you’re a kid putting your drawings on the fridge… being confident enough to be, like, ‘Look, I did this!’.

WE UNDERSTAND YOU WORK WITH FUTURE FOUNDRY IN DOVER - COULD YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT IT IS?

Future Foundry is a social enterprise that helps young people grow sustainable businesses. I help recruit young people and generally mentor them, offering ways to present their work and give them confidence to sell their products.

Lisa Oulton started FF with the Student Makers Market to give a platform to young artists, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, to sell their work.

Future Foundry has put on huge events all over Kent, including the Turner Contemporary. If you’re a young creative and need free support, then contact FF! It will change your life.

YOU HAD A PIECE DURING THE QUEEN’S JUBLIEE PAGEANT - HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT AND HOW DID IT GO DOWN?

For the Queen’s Jubilee Pageant they wanted a portrait of the Queen used on the blue penny stamp (a portrait shot of the queen taken by Dorothy Wilding). No problem. But they wanted it 20 metres high, on ribbons, attached to a maypole coming out of an oak tree.

My good friend Hannah Rushforth at Emergency Exit Arts probably thought I was the only one mad enough to give it a go. I had to use the abandoned Primark in Margate as it was the only space big enough to lay out the fabric and paint it. It took 10 days to paint. It was quite surreal seeing it on Sky and BBC news and it ended up being used as the main image for British Vogue and other publications on their social media channels.

WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT SO FAR AS AN ARTIST?

Well, you would think it would be the Queen stuff… but my proudest moments are always when I’m working with young people or doing a mural for a small business. I hope I can continue to do projects like that… it doesn’t feel like a job!