"Ears", Dan O'Toole

Every series of Urban Walkabout Guides is unique and visualised by a local artist whose illustrations grace the covers. Their expressions work with ours to bring you Sydney precincts in all their colours. There’s always a story behind their practice and outputs, so here we give a little more on The Artists. Meet Newtown local Dan O'Toole, who works under the name "Ears". His artwork was featured on the November 2010 edition of the Urban Walkabout Newtown Guide.

"Ears", Dan O'Toole

How did your journey start?
I started painting in high school, and enjoyed doing portraits and graffiti at that time. I guess I haven't really stopped painting since then.

Tell us about Oh Really Gallery.
Oh Really Gallery is a community focused exhibition and event space that was set up to support a local group of active street artists that needed an outlet for there work. It has since grown to show artists from overseas and all over the country. We do a regular event called culture Jam which is about having live music and live painting, and creating a dialogue between the visual and the audible.

How do you consider street art and what about it appeals to you? Do you define yourself as a street artist? 
Ok that's a big question, hope you're ready. Street art is not an aesthetic or a style, it is circumstantial, and is defined by context. The philosophy of the movement being that 'we' as a community of creative beings can interact and play with our environment. It is a protest against conformity and the controlling hand of government. 

This very human need to express yourself and take some ownership of your place, and public spaces that we live in, is equally important as it is for companies like 'coca cola' to express their views and visually dominate our environment. 

For these reasons i I feel that it is the most important art movement to speak of at the current time, it deals with the visual impact of our physical world and removes the need for rules and tradition as limitations upon the artist. Anyone can access this art, it is free, it is not elite and it comments on the state of things regarding globalisation and capitalism. 

Ironically many street artists assume the role of a company and brand themselves as one logo, to market the product and push their own image forward ahead of the rest, this idea has been subliminally taught to us by the media and the structure of business in a money based economy, I find it most interesting to look at the relationship between the community and its governing forces that hold influence over individuals thoughts and actions. 

As a 'street artist' I have experienced the empowering feeling of freedom to express myself, in public spaces and have an influence on people's day to day routine.  I suppose I do define myself as a street artist even though i work mostly in the studio these days, I still hold the same mentality and i hope to continue painting outdoors and putting stickers up for a while yet.

What have been your biggest challenges?
My biggest challenge is the ongoing need to change my work and develop it somewhere else. I am my harshest critic and worry that I am too comfortable in my rituals of painting and finding ways to leave my comfort zone and still make work that feels like me is the big challenge. 

What keeps you motivated to continue creating?
The need to improve, and the desire to create something the world wasn't expecting. Music, art, film, books, photography, the city all play a part.

Who or what inspires you?
Brett Whiteley, Francis Bacon, the way he made something grotesque that is still somehow beautiful, and the psychological elements of his work interest me as well. I enjoy Jose Parla, Swoon, Marlene Dumas, Rauschenberg, Pollock, Mondrian, Picasso, Diebenkorn, Lucien Freud, Cy Twombly, Cherry Hood, Dane Lovit, Lister, Egon Schiele and many, many more.

What is Sydney’s best-kept secret?
Can't tell you...shh..

Whose artwork have you collected or would you like to collect for your home?
I have collected a few friends paintings through trading, I would really like a Cherry Hood piece if I was rich, and I'm keen on a James Powditch piece. I also like Craig Ruddy a lot actually, I could live with one of his. And maybe a Danelle Bergstrom, her work is great! 

Tell us about your latest project?
Im working on an installation for Oh Really Gallery that will involve sound and playing with lighting, I'm hoping to create a cave like cocoon for the viewer to feel a sense of isolation from reality. It will be open late Feb [2011].