Interview with Klone Yourself

q)Who are you? Where are you from and where do you live now?

a)Most people know me by the name of Klone or Klone Yourself , I've been using this name for the last 7 years so it kinda stuck .
I was born in former USSR in Ukraine and moved to Israel about 16 years ago , nowadays residing in Tel-Aviv so this is my home , this is where I mainly paint and sleep , though whenever I travel , my home is on my back .

q)What is it that you do? What media do you use?

a)I paint most of the time and recently experimenting with installation/sculpture abit , I use mainly watercolor/acrylic/ink/spraypaint at this point , each medium for its surface .

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)Hmm , I dunno if my work is that special or better then anything out there , for me its a way to try and understand my surroundings , I communicate better through visuals then words even though I'm not sure anybody out there actually understands this language I'm making .

q)How long have you been showing your work for? Did you have a “big break?”

a)I think my work is shown from the first time I painted outside which was in 1999 , but if you mean gallery wise , I started to take part in small group shows around the world around 2005 and shown here and there , in and out . I dont think I realy had a big break and I'm not realy sure what its all about , I would like to be able to keep painting , creating and living my way as long as I can .

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)The city , my childhood in Ukraine , my weird friends and everyday life .

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)Nowadays I'm preparing work for an upcoming art fair in Tel-Aviv , experimenting with paper and wood for an installation and planning out a mural for a museum show in the summer .

q)Do you listen to music while you create your work? If so, would you give some examples?

a)I usually put on local student radio station - 106fm.co.il that are playing indy music most of the day without any commercials, I spend many hours listening to music while in studio or while riding my bike and radio is the easy solution , plus you cant get more random then that with the music selection .

q)Do you do work in any other media? Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?

a)As I mentioned before , I've been experimenting with installation involving paper and wood at this point that hopefully I will be able to show at some dirty space :)

q)What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)If youre looking just to show your work - just go outside and do it on the street , you can do whatever you want , will have tons of cool/weird/funny/scary experiences along the way , you will learn your city much better then you ever thought you can and you dont need anybody's approval .
On other hand , if youre looking for art world approval then maybe you need the art world way which includes artschool and all that jazz , anyway , no matter what path you choose , or combine them both , most important thing is to enjoy the process , if you loose the fun then its time to do something else .

q)Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?

a)Yes , I will be exhibiting as independent artist at the "Fresh Paint" art fair in Tel-Aviv in the first week of april 2011 and also I will take part at a group exhibition dedicated to artists that came from street work at Helena Rubinstein pavilion of Tel-Aviv museum in august 2011
other things might or might not happen along the way so if you realy wanna know updates on shows , check my site once in awhile - www.kloneyourself.com

q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)www.kloneyourself.com