Interview with - STEN - !

I like sten's works specially because his style is so different from most stencil artists. Here is an interview with him I did just after he finished the stencil of the girl below (who is actually a girl he
knows !)


Click HERE to listen to the audio-file (original interview)

1. What is the meaning of your name ? / Why did you choose this name ?

It is actually a combination of "stencil" and my name which is "Stefano", so I just mixed the two words.

2. Since when have you been doing stencils ?

For around 5 or 6 years.

3. What led you to do stencils ? Have you been doing graffiti before or other type of art ?

No, I didn’t do any graffiti before. Regarding stencils, I got to know a girl that made a lot of stencils in the street and I liked that technique a lot and was looking for several years to get the right material for that kind of things. Because at that time there wasn’t really much available in Rome. That girl also used when she started material that was very light and difficult to cut. Nowadays the technique is really everything. People who are starting know what I mean. There are a lot of foros in the internet about cutting and stuff. So, yes, it was because of that girl I met that I started with the stencils.

4. What are the materials and techniques you use for your stencils ?

Now I use a very thin transparent paper.

5. What is / are your preferred spots to put your stencils ?

Well, I am trying to study before which stencil fits to which place so that I am also not repeating stencils more than 4 or 5 times. And I am trying to look for a specific place.

6. In which cities have you so far been doing stencils ?

In Barcelona and in Italia in Venice and posters in Villaterra(?).

7. Are there other artists you admire or influenced your work ?

Yes, I like "Swoon" a lot or from stencil artists for example Banksy but most influences actually come from details from my life

8. What do you think makes your style different from other stencil artists ?

I started with this kind of ink technique to play a bit with the shadows. I think I started with this graphical type with the dots because I saw it at some stencils some time ago but it was from an stencil artist that wasn’t very known and who did only a few works. It could be that this had actually the biggest influence on my technique.

9. How do you get inspired or where do you get your ideas from?

My ideas come a lot from life itself. I started to do imaginary persons from the pop area as a lot of stencil artists do but I liked a lot anonymous persons that means to do works like the girl for example which is a girl that I know. So I am trying to use subjects out of my life.

10. Have you ever been in trouble because of your stencils ?

Yes, once I had problems together with Lex, a girl I work with. I work a lot with Lex and Luca Melonte (???). We were doing a stencil of about 2 meters and the police saw us and we had to pay a fine.

11. Which of your stencils do you consider the best one you have done so far ?

There is one of the first ones which was a pop image. It was a very simple stencil, just one layer in black and white. I liked that one a lot. It’s a woman from Hitchcock. But actually now I also like the last one I did.

12. In your opinion: a good stencil should be: funny, political, controversial, artistic, poetic, multi-coloured, black and white or ?

A good stencil should have a strong expression and a message, but not necessarily political or explicit. A message that the people can interpret freely. That’s why I like a lot the stencils from Banksy or the ones from Swoon that allow a free interpretation, I actually like it better when you can interpret it freely.

13. Anything else you want to tell us ???

No, just that I am very happy because at the moment there are a lot of people who start doing stencils. Some just try it once or twice or stop after a year and other seriously dedicate a lot of time and patience.

Click HERE to listen to the audio-file (original interview)