Ready Set DC – Tori Milko and Decoy
In this post Tori Milko interviews artist Decoy. They discuss the recent Activation 2719 exhibit and more.
“TMilko: Just curious- how did you end up with the name “Decoy”?
Decoy: When I was in school in college my best friend and I used to make tshirts together. We would write on them with Sharpies or we would buy cut out letters from places like WalMart that you can iron on. One day we had a bunch of leftover letters, so my friend opened the dictionary up to the “D” section. We chose one word that we didn’t have enough letters for, but on the same page was the word “Decoy”. We both thought it was a pretty cool word, so I put “Decoy” on a tshirt. So once I started wearing that tshirt around Georgia, people started responding to it. They would say things like, “Decccooyyy!” and “Decoy in the house!” when I wore it around. So I kept making Decoy tshirts. I began silk screening and stenciling them, giving them away to friends. Once I started putting art on the streets people would ask me, “Do you have a name?” so I would just say, “I do have a name! I’m Decoy.”
TMilko: How would you describe your artistic style?
Decoy: I would say it’s pop, cartoon. I always say how my art is pop art.
TMilko: Did you have any main influences when you started your art?
Decoy: I’ve always loved art, and I grew up in a very art conscious family. Anywhere we went, my Dad would take us to art museums and push the fact that art is something important in life. It was important to him, so he wanted to push it on to us. I feel like I may have grown up with more knowledge of artists and their style of work and such than maybe most kids do. So growing up my favorite artists were Paul Klee and Egon Schiele, which a lot of people say they can see my line work related back to. I love Roy Lichtenstein, Warhol….
TMilko: That answers one of my questions. You’re a fan of the East Wing of the National Gallery?
Decoy: Ha ha! Definitely! I’ve been in there five times in the last three months. I love people like Keith Herring and Barbara Kruger.”
To read the complete post, which includes photos of Decoy and her work, click here. The Activation 2719 exhibit ran from February 6-20. Click here to view a press release for the event.
