CRATER CREATIVES: WILD RICE

Welcome to Crater Creatives, a biweekly artist profile series offering a unique look into the artists that call Sudbury home! There’s certain type of creativity that’s born up here in Northern Ontario, maybe it’s the wilderness that surrounds us, or maybe it’s just our resourceful spirit. Whatever the case may be we’re here to shine a spot light on the innovative artists of all sorts in this big old crater! Have an artist you’d like to recommend for a future Crater Creatives profile? Shoot an email to jessica@ourcrater.com and tell us all about it!

With a style as bold as his favourite black ink Wild Rice is making Sudbury a little more badass one tattoo at a time! Working out of Studio 613 Electric Tattoo Co. after honing his skills at various studios locally and beyond you’d be hard pressed to find another artist with quite the same technique. Favouring bold blackout silhouettes and shading his work is vintage meets minimalist with a pulp feel. Read on for more about Wild Rice and his work!

How did you become interested in tattooing?

I’ve always been interested in the art of tattooing. Not that being almost 30 years of age is old but, when I was a kid there were not any TV shows about it and barely any reading that you could get your hands on, besides the “tattoo Flash” magazines at the husky in Garson. It was stories from your parents friends, older siblings or an aunt and uncle who had a pretty sweet little dinger that was so old you could barely tell if it was a pinup or a unicorn anymore. From a young age I was drawing on myself and friends more than on paper. I just had no idea that you could have a career and make a living doing it.

Tell us more about your style and influences?

“Blackwork” would be a generalized term of the style of work that I do. My style of blackwork would be more like wood cut relief designs, solid line work and heavy fill to tell a story that only takes a picture of a few short words. My work if heavily influenced by older grungy art that is almost sticky to the touch…like a fable, an extra-large pizza or a deck of old nudie cards.

What artists locally or beyond keep you inspired?

My coworkers past and present are a constant source of inspiration for me, they are friends that you can always toss ideas back and forth whether it’s a clever joke or a piece of art.

Artists that you would stumble upon on instagram like Henn Kim, Kelly Violence or Greem show how far styles and ideas will push forward as it progresses.

What is your favourite thing about being part of the Sudbury art community?

I think that my favourite thing is being a part of the community, a group of talented people that are dedicated to the cause of making our city a better, more beautiful place to grow up and if you choose to grow old in.

What would be your best advice to a new artist looking to get involved in our local art scene?

Work with the community, become part of it. Make friends and memories. Try hard. Wake up early, go to bed late. Try to constantly have a personal project going that is in your style. Sometimes making money can still be considered failure and success is living off of Mr. Noodles and laying awake at night. Always bring a bag of creative supplies so you can work on the fly. And always make sure to have a good backing of friends to stand by you when you are at the highest highs and the lowest lows.

Where can we follow your work?

You can find me on Instagram or Facebook. Or you can simply drop into Studio 613 Electric Tattoo Co. at 214 Shaugnessy St. and check out everything in person.

Jessica Lovelace

Jessica Lovelace is a Public Relations and Communications grad, musical theatre enthusiast, lover of live music and part-time unicorn tamer. Some have said that the Big Dripper from Sub City is a regional delicacy and the perfect end to a Sudbury Saturday Night – Jessica is definitely one of those people. No, the hair is not a perm.

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