We were able to snag a quick little sit down and photo opportunity with Vancouver painter, Mori Pablo, before her art showing this Friday, June 18th at Pop Opera Nightclub.  Mori is an artist who prides herself on being a conveyor of timeless pop culture as well as a sneaker aficionado of sorts.  At the exhibit you’re liable to catch anything from a Goodfellas-inspired canvas to a Clockwork Orange piece to a Vox skate shoe adorned with another musician or movie reference.  The great thing about her is that she is a purist at heart, painting what she paints for the love of it.  Don’t get her wrong though, love for art is all fine and dandy but she knows how to create a quality piece that can sell too.  If you get the chance, ask her about the two 1 of 1 custom pairs of painted Adidas Stan Smiths that sold for $600 each.  She’s definitely a budding Vancouver artist that’s popularity will continue to grow in the coming years.  You can preview a photo gallery of Mori’s paintings through her website: www.forestflowerdesign.com and if you miss the exhibit at Pop Opera, she’ll be doing a group pop art show at the Franklin Room in August (1612 Franklin Ave., Vancouver, BC).  And now, on to our Q+A with Mori Pablo.

Let’s begin with your upbringing and your artistic background. Where you from?

I’m actually from Chilliwack, BC, about an east from here. Artistic upbringing, didn’t really have too much of it, my parents had nothing to do with art. It was pretty much my uncle that got me into because he used to do a lot of realistic drawing and painting. I’d always tell him, “draw me this, draw me that” as a little kid at 4 or 5 and it got to a point where he said, “I’m done drawing for you, start drawing your own stuff”.

So for your upcoming art exhibit at Pop Opera, is it a themed collection that you’re displaying or is it your random works of art?

Just random works. It just all works together because it all has to deal with pop culture not necessarily what’s happening now but classic pop culture.

It’s obvious that you’re influenced by movies and music and it directly transfers into your artwork, did you adhere to those same references in this artwork for the show?

Yes, yea. That’s pretty much what influences me. I just finished a Goodfellas piece. I just started a Jackie Brown piece that I just started before I met up with you guys, I’m not sure if it will make it into the show yet. And a fresh set of skate shoes, painted.

Is it tough to take these widely known subjects and do something different than what all these other artists are doing with them? What makes your Scarface artwork different from the hundreds of others that are selling something similar around the world?

Well it’s not machine made, that’s a huge thing because a lot of them are mass produced. It’s like the person that buys it, they’re the only person that’s going to have it, right.

What is it that made you choose Pop Opera for your showcase, not the typical platform for artistic display?

Two reasons. One, I actually saw a message on Facebook saying that they’re going to start doing exhibits whether it’s fashion, art, whatnot and I thought it was a good opportunity because Pop Opera, pop art – kind of flows together. And I thought it’d be a nice venue, plus a lot of people know about it.

What other art shows have you done in the past?

Goodfoot was the first big huge show that I’ve done as a solo. But when I did group work, it was in a studio/gallery. And I’ve also done community centre displays.

Do you ever see yourself moving away from the pop culture influences and tackling different styles of painting or is this where your heart is at?

To be honest, probably not because I mean I find joy out of it. It’s what I love to do so if I don’t have any love in what I’m creating then it’s going to be kind of shitty! Haha.

Words: Justin C. F. Lintag