28th March 2015,
Talented and charming, Kenji Chai has been exploring the street art scenes with his self-expressive graffiti art that bears his very heart and soul in the name of art.
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Kenji Chai is a graffiti artist, character designer and a traveller. His work changes our perception of what can be achieved with merely a graffiti artist’s limited tool set. Also known as BlackFryday, Kenji has established himself as one of Malaysia’s most prolific and versatile illustrators since 2008 and garnered admiration from the arts community when he pioneered Chaigo, his signature 4 paws character that was first spotted in his artwork for the Pangkor Island Festival 2013.
In his bid to find innovative ways to extend the artist’s reach to previously inaccessible spaces, Kenji has projected his art out of the box into communal messages to the public. One of his most recent works done for the TANAHAIRKU project exhibition in Petronas Gallery, KLCC reflected his steadfast patriotism for his own birth country. Another significant project where he enjoyed expressing himself included the amazing piece – Fighting Cockerel which he did for Nando’s Malaysia.
What’s interesting about Kenji is how he has made a name for himself in a career where some would still label graffiti art as “illegal”. Nonetheless, this young man has shown us that chasing passionately after his dreams is his one true passion in life, regardless of all odds.
Can you tell us about your background? How did you get started in graphic arts?
I realised my passion with arts when I was in primary school. That was when I started to join art competitions and continued chasing my dream until I eventually landed a job as a graphic designer. However when I was working as a graphic designer, I felt a sense of detachment from my artwork since it was only a file made of binary numbers. My big break, I would say came in 2008 when I was introduced to graffiti artwork which I decided to give a try and the rest was history.
Where do you get your inspiration for
graffiti art?
That’s pretty easy. I would say I get inspirations for my graffiti art from movies as imagination has no limits in them. In fact, I even did a project in collaboration with the Hunger Games premiere where I got to showcase my graffiti skills live in public around Klang Valley area.
Tell us about the graphic art work which you recently completed for iN Publishers.
I wanted to make it interesting so I took about 3 to 4 days to come up with the whole design concept. My idea was that since iN Publishers had 3 main magazines focusing very much on interior design and home living, I wanted to change the focus a bit where rather than the furniture is being portrayed as a non-living essential in our home, I wanted to spruce things up a bit; where the furniture comes alive on the wall mural in iN Publishers’ office located at Shah Alam.
What is the coolest thing that has happened to you as a result of your graffiti art?
One of my best memories so far would be heading to Pangkor Island to work on multiple artworks around the island not too long ago. It was cool because this project allowed me to escape from the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle of Kuala Lumpur and reconnect with people and nature. In Pangkor Island, I specially designed my artwork to cater to the relaxing environment by using my signature character Chaigo and a giant hornbill – Malaysia’s national bird which received a lot of positive feedback from the local residents. This I would say was one of the coolest things that happened to me as an artist.
What are the biggest challenges that you face as a graphic artist?
The challenges I face is how I want to design my art to specifically convey a particular message to the public. One good example would be the art piece I did of a dog chasing a cat which in turn is chasing a mouse. The message I am sending out here is that in the rat race which is very commonly found in the big city and in fact almost everywhere else, the dog actually depicts the boss chasing after the manager for updates on the work progress who in turns chases after the mouse; the worker for the completion of the work.
Who are some of the artists that you look up to for more inspiration?
I admire the works of Nychos, Sobekcis, Aryz, Rime, Clogtwo and Katun.
Tell us how travelling inspires your work?
Travelling helps to widen my perspective of life as I get to meet people of different cultures from many of my travels. Looking at their choices when it comes to clothing, food, entertainment and even architecture, gives me new insights and ideas on what can be portrayed in my next graffiti art that may move hearts. After all, art is also a form of communication that also plays an important role in uniting people of different nations and cultures together as a whole.
Do you keep your personal and graffiti art life separate?
Personally speaking, my thoughts and expressions are reflected in my graffiti art. Take for example my signature character, Chaigo. If you notice it always has a smile on his face. This is because I am trying to express the message that even though animals tend to lead a hard life in comparison to humans, yet these animals still face their lives happily regardless of where the road takes them to.
With so much negativity going on in our society today, how do you hope your graffiti art can help in improving lives?
I hope that when someone is passing by on the road whether it’s being caught in a jam or not, they will feel good when they see something that I have painted very colourfully on the wall. Besides that, I have participated in volunteer services in primary and secondary schools to get young students away from drugs and other bad habits.
Facebook: Kenji Chai;
kenjichai.art@gmail.com
