StickerNation :: International Sticker Network

Feature by Dom Murphy :: Monday, October 20, 2003

We thought it was time to feature one of StickerNation's main contributors, Sion aka Mrs. Representing in Wales and Finland, Sion has been helping keep the StickerNation archive fresh with some fine examples of sticker work. Read on for more...

Name and location?
Sion, currently living in Swansea, Wales

You previously lived in Finland. How does the scene compare to where you are now? I imagine Finland to have a small sticker scene, is this the case?
Yeah I lived in Lahti, Finland for a while and I never really hooked up with anyone else out there who was stickering. There seemed to be a strong traditional spray paint graff scene and a lot of tagging but not much on more of a 'street art' tip. I was only there for about 8 months during the winter. Not much new stuff went up due to the weather conditions but as the snow started to melt I did see a few bits here and there popping up. Some nights in the winter I found myself going out and scrubbing ice off street signs and drying them off just to get a sticker up, a lot of effort when its -20/30 degrees out but when I get the itch I just need to go out and get 'em up.

Helsinki has a bit of a sticker scene on the go. I always enjoy visiting that city as there seems to be generally a lot of shit going there. I went to Stockholm, Sweden a few times and that place is covered in stickers. Not as heavily plastered as London but impressive all the same.

Where I am now I just have to contend with too much rain. I'm gonna start wheat-pasting now that the winter is coming in over here. With wheat-pasting it doesn't matter if everything is wet.

Can you explain your robots with ties? Are you still producing them? How were they made?
The robots with the ties started off as an idea I had from working shit jobs (supermarket trolley pushing etc). I did a sticker of a robot in a tie next to the words 'I love my job'. It was just a way for me to remind myself and my colleagues how shit and pointless our jobs were. I dropped the text so that they would be a bit more open to interpretation. To me they still hold that feeling of a faceless employee but I didn't want them to have such a specific meaning to people who might stumble across them in the street. All of the robot stickers I did were hand drawn with permanent markers on sticker paper (or sign writing vinyl if I had the cash) so that they would all be a bit individual. the shape and style of them is really basic, so doing them all by hand, made them a bit more personal than simply photocopying them off in massive runs. Half the fun to me is the sitting up late at night with ink all over my hands just doodling them out. I've done them for almost a year solid, so I've decided to drop them (for now at least) and work on some new ideas. I don't like the idea of one image becoming too precious or important, the robots with ties have gone up all over and I think I did them justice, time to move onto something new.

So what are you producing now?
At the moment I'm doing a few different characters / ideas but mainly I'm doing the rabbits under the name 'Ditto'. I really like the idea of them reproducing and popping up all over the place. Multiplying in the way that rabbits love to do. I've got a few ready to go up which are about 3 foot tall on sign writing vinyl. At the moment one of my mates is thinking of opening hunting season on them by creating a Elma Fudd style character and slapping targets over their heads so we can have a battle of sorts on the streets. I think I will probably stick to the Ditto character for a while and then move on to something new. Hopefully the rabbits are attractive enough so that they can be appreciated by anyone, maybe I can put a smile on the face of a 4 year old who might notice them up and about? I think graff in general gets a bit too elitist at times (especially tagging), everytime I make a new Ditto sticker I always end up grinning to myself, hopefully it works for others who see 'em up and about?

Any tips of sticker production?
It really bothers me to see stickers which look crap and faded in no time at all. To leave something real ugly up in the public view is contradictory to the point of making the streets a more interesting place to walk around. I try to use the most permanent markers that I can get my hands on so they don't fade and when I have the money I get white vinyl from sign writers which is hella sticky (7 year permanent stuff). I've noticed quite a few things people have done on computer printers where the ink runs real bad. If I do print out designs off the computer then I usually photocopy them on to sticker paper so the ink is a bit more durable.

Outside of stickering what else do you do?
Outside of stickering I'm usually in front of a computer screen (but maybe not as much as I should be). Myself and a good friend of mine have started up business doing design work, mainly web stuff and video (see link below). primarily I enjoy doing Viseo based stuff, we do a fair bit of night club visuals. Its really satisfying to be creating in a purely visual sense, and to see the fruits of your labour projected in front of an appreciative audience. We did some stuff in the dance tent at Glastonbury this year which was a really good experience, seeing our shit projected on massive screens to acts like Boom-Bip and Format + Abdominal was killer! As long as I'm creating visually then I'm satisfied.

Who inspired you as a child. Who inspires you now?
I think my main inspiration comes from the people around me, going to school with people like James (my partner in crime) and kossee really gave me a kick in the arse to get my stuff done. When hanging out with friends like Dan (Dilac) we bounce so many crazy ideas off each other it really pushes me to do more. Seeing people who are close to me do their own thing and doing it well inspires me to do more. For example, I'm stoked when I see how well Mr. Stophe is developing with his music (Midflight Records), when he's making killer beats on his Akai it makes me want to do more of my stuff. I think the happier I am the more creative I become, being around really good friends who make me laugh makes me want to do more shit.

When I was younger myself, my brother and my sister were always encouraged to draw or do something creative so a big shout would have to go out to my parents (even though they'd whip my ass if they knew how much I enjoy defacing public property). As far as stickering is concerned, StickerNation is probably on the top of the list because through the site I get to see so much good shit from all over the world which I wouldn't be exposed to without it. Keep up the good work!

Heh - cheers man! So what do you think you will be doing this time next year?
Hopefully I'll be a bit more organised and will get more shit done generally. I want to get back into my stills photography and I'm sure I'll still be stickering more than ever. I've got about a thousand plans but who knows what tomorrow will bring....... the pub probably!

Cheers Sion. Finally, you got any shouts to go out?
Big shouts out to Mr. Stophe, Liz / Chips ahoy. L-Roy (you are a cross between Floella Benjamin and Blackie Lawless and you make me smile!). Dan'll aka Dilac aka best coffee maker in Swansea!!. Rob, James (I will pull my finger out I promise). Jennika and all the friends I made up north. Mr and Mrs Skutla (wanna see some more ill shit off you guys) and about a hundred other people I've forgotten. Cheers, you're all killer and I love the lot of ya!