Frosti Gnarr has been drawing all of his life, at the age of 17 he decided to shed the idea that art school would lead to typecasting and instead broaden his knowledge, and has not dropped a pen since. When 55DSL contacted him about doing a collaboration with them he knew that appreciation for his work and vision was growing and certified. This year has been a busy one for him and ILS are honoured to have him share his creative process, his passions, where he hopes it all to lead, and chat about where he finds his inspiration...
Your creation for the 55DSL t-shirt has been very popular - what was your inspiration for it?
It came from wanting to create a strong abstraction that can be enjoyed universally. It ended up being very inspired by Iceland and it’s violent nature. Volcano´s, glaciers and geysers.
Can you tell the story of your t-shirt to someone viewing it - what is it that you are trying to say?
Strength and beauty. You make your own narrative from your life.
Many people wearing the t-shirt may not realise how long the process of design was - How long did this piece of work take to do?
Well, I made many sketches and went through many different styles before deciding on this. This print took about three hours I think but the overall process was two weeks.
It’s worth the time to get it right! What do you need around you to be the perfect setting to enable you to create?
I need to have sound all around me when I am making something. Mostly it’s loud music like metal or hardcore rap. When I get sick of music I put on either ‘This American Life’ or ‘The Ricky Gervais’ show. I need to have my desk a bit messy, an ashtray on one side and a French press full of coffee on the other side...
Frosti - self portrait
What hobbies do you have and do you find that you are more creative after doing them?
My hobbies are all focused around art and therefore inspire each other. I like to watch a lot of movies, listen to a lot of music, go to art shows, read design blogs, drum, rap, paint and draw.
What inspires you in life?
Truth.
Who has been your mentor?
In life it has been my mother.
In passion it has been my father.
In art it has been Goddur, my old professor.
In design it has been myself.
In love it has been my girlfriend, Helen.
And in humor it has been my brother, Dagur.
What makes you keep striving to reach the next level with your work?
The constant urge to do better next time. I never allow myself to be content with the work I’ve just finished. With that in mind I do not stagnate.
You definitely can’t stagnate when you’ve set yourself a poster a day for a year challenge! 365 posters - what made you do it?
It was created out of the desire to make exciting work and challenge myself. In hindsight I’ve realised that I also wanted to make sure that I had some testament of my presence on this earth. Not just completed artworks or commissioned art/design but me in the form of visuals.
It’s real tribute and insight into who you are. I love the concept. Have you felt fraught trying to find inspiration every day for it?
Not so much because it is a different thought process - The poster a day project is relatively easy to do because there is no time to think, only to create. I hate it when I have to think too much about a project. I get inspiration from the everyday as if I was collecting what I saw and producing it into a sort of diary collage.
What else are you working on at the moment?
Right now i am doing a masters degree in editorial design at the HKU in Utrecht, Holland. I am working on a thesis regarding the perception of typography. I am working on products with my long time partner in crime, Brynjar Sigurðarson and working on a solo indie rap album with some of my genius friends.
Where would you like your art to take you next?
My dream is to make a difference. Make art and design that changes the everyday life. At least my own everyday life.
For now his website has sneakily been bought by some bast**** that are trying to sell it back to him for an extortionate amount so collectively screw people like that and get follow his work on the behance network by clicking here: http://www.behance.net/jackdraven
