“I like the idea of making a picture a souvenir, to try to create a feeling, something that could stay in mind as an interrogation instead of an answer” quote from Etienne Bardelli, aka Akroe. Let’s jump right into a few exerts from Akroe’s recent interview with Format Mag. Regarding the support of her parents, her past experiences with graffiti and a father who is a professional architect she says: “It wasn’t so much fun with my parents. My mother let me do it and let me believe she didn’t pay attention, but I think she was anxious as to my whereabouts and she knew that I kept spray cans on me. My clothes were totally dusty and covered with coloured drips. She had an artistic point of view, which was quite right; she said graffiti always looks the same. Now, through detachment, I understand her very well, but she didn’t understand how strong of a role action and feelings play in graffiti; it’s a major ingredient of the game. My father was totally insane about graffiti; as an architect in this little town, he was so stressed out by my actions that he claimed deteriorated the streets. It was a big deal for him, but he couldn’t be too hard on me, because I did decoration at the same time for a lot of shops and nightclubs. But I remember we had strong clashes at home. I was a terrible child sometimes.”
As to whether or not she prefers graffiti or graphic design, Akroe responded: “I use graphic design for both, only the tools change. Graffiti is my personal work, so I care about personal questions and emotions. Working as a graphic designer leads me to work with people, to exchange with them, to translate their own messages. It’s very interesting because people are often very interesting. Of course, I would enjoy spending a lot more time with my personal work, but sometimes commercial demands help me to find solutions for my own projects, and it helps me progress a lot too. Doing both together at the same time is a good solution for the moment, maybe it will change later. I don’t know.” At the moment, I don’t care…Akroe’s work is amazing.
