Street artist Lost One has lived half of his life in different countries in West Africa and has now returned to Groningen for four years, where he makes many works on the walls in the city center.
“At the moment I am very busy with smaller artworks with very small drawings in them. Usually the subject is something that nobody cares much about, say a jar or a spoon, with a background of fine lines. For the rest I write my name in many places.
When I put something on the wall, it doesn't have to be existential, it doesn't have to be very beautiful or something that people suddenly have an idea about. When you make a flower, people immediately like it. I find it interesting if you wouldn't expect someone to put a certain object on the wall. Then people start to think more: why did he put a spoon on the wall?
"When I make street art, I don't think it's important that it's neat." Lost One
"My small drawings are based on stories from the English and European medieval literature. The works of this period are full of inscriptions and small drawings, for example the capital letters. First I copied these a lot. Now I try them in a modern and minimalist way for example, with straight lines instead of flowers. Kim Jung Gi is one of my favorite artists. He has a lot of motivation and also practices a lot, this is what I want to achieve and for that I look at the things that inspire him. I also hope to find new inspiration and motivation I also get inspiration from poetry, just like my work seems to be about nothing, there are also poems that are about nothing, but try to make it very beautiful.
When I make a drawing at home, even if it's the size of my hand, it takes me an hour to get all the lines exactly right. When I make art on the street, I don't think it's important that it's neat. On the street I work as fast as possible, as long as the lines are on the wall. I find that making art in the street gives me more freedom because then I can do what I want, and even though people like the idea, they don't have to like it. Somehow I don't want to be judged. You can handle criticism, but it's always hard to hear bad criticism. I can check this much more on social media: I can photograph work as a perfectionist and if I don't like something, I can delete the post. If you don't make an effort to remove it, street art will continue to exist.”
Lost One's work can be found on his Instagram account and in various places around the city.