Well to say I was excited to hear about Katie aka KMG joining the Nuart Aberdeen line up would be an understatement. Since Nuart landed in Aberdeen back in 2017 Katie has been a vital part of the production crew, learning from the visiting artists whilst also developing her own unique style of work and street art.
She's become well established in street art & design circles, travelling up and down the country to paint at various events including a trip to Barcelona for Wallspot, part of an exchange which saw Spanish artist Ona visit Aberdeen. Along with developing her street work Katie has also developed her commercial brand, painting murals, designing whisky labels and a bit of everything in between. She's slowly been working on a character, all black with 7 eyes which has become a recurring face as it finds itself in various comical situations. Ken as its known was originally created in Aberdeen and hence takes its name from the Aberdonain phrase 'Ken fit like' and 'Ken fit a mean' a local slang word or colloquialism for 'you know what I mean'.
From pissing in his sleep on an abandoned mattress to appearing on the Jealous London rooftop so when presented with the chance to join the Nuart Aberdeen line up as a featured artists there's only really one thing she could paint. I was so happy for Katie as she's one of my oldest and dearest friends who's been a constant support through the good times and the bad. But she's been working hard for this opportunity for years so it wasn't a suprise. It served as a reminder that sometimes hard work pays off and over the course of 8 days Katie would prove that she's one of the hardest working street artists in the UK!
With everything that's happened over the last year and a bit Nuart decided to change tack a bit for this years artists, opting to use a small local production crew headed up by myself with support from the team remotely in Stavanger & London while Ross from Aberdeen Inspired helped out on the massive logistics to make sure things run smoothly. There'd be no festival events, instead 5 artists would visit the city over the course of 7 weeks individually producing a new artwork but without the usual PR festival environment. A return to street arts roots with working going up under the cover of high vis and safety cones. Of course with a 30 by 8 meter wall it was going to be a challenge to keep it a secret that Nuart had returned. Also not many of the original street art heads had access to a scissor lift but you have to use the resources at hand.
Over the course of 6 days Katie wrestled with this giant wall and her biggest Ken to date. Slowly it emerged from the grey blocks at the back of Union Square on the often overlooked wall, his seven eyes beginning to open. Apart from a few bird boxes there really wasn't much to say about the location but for Nuart and Katie it would prove to be a perfect canvas. Having recently re-read Gullivers Travels, Katie took inspiration from the novel and envisioned Ken as if he'd travelled to Lilliput only to be attacked by a hoard of miniature Kens. You'll find them climbing up and clambering over the giant sized character while one cuts the rope sending a Ken flying through the air. A brave Ken climbs the creepers to get a selfie while another leads the giant Ken forward with the promise of a fresh fish, a nod to the local fish mongers located in the area.
The sparing use of colour means that the little flourishes of blue and pink really stand out. The floating balloon was a nod to Fanakapan who would also be joining the line up for this years Nuart Aberdeen. When he saw the mural he became so enamoured with Ken that he asked Katie if he could add one of his unique 'High 5' balloons to the wall, sparking a great collaboration. Perhaps it might lead to further collaborations akin to famous match ups like Warhol & Basquiat. It's interesting how these kind of collaborations are few and far between in the gallery world but graffiti writers will often collaborate on huge walls, sharing paint and ideas. Seeing Fanakapan's process first hand was also amazing but that's a story for another time.
After a busy 6 days and with sea legs (from the swaying scissor lift action) Katie finished up what is now the biggest Ken mural in the world! I took so much pleasure in saying that. It took a lot to get the piece finished and before we knew it Katie was onto a second mural on the St Nicholas rooftop garden, no rest days just straight back onto painting. She decided to continue the giant Ken theme but this time with a few special colourful additions. Some ride a long skateboard into battle while mayoral dudes wave their arms and their sceptres as Ken lifts a singing orange dude up for a closer look at this weird and wonderful world.
And as quickly as she arrived she was off again, home to pick up her son and head to a kids birthday party. She even managed to squeeze in a mini mural for Kirsty at Parx Cafe so technically KMG created 3 murals in 8 days. Although we kept the production plans pretty low key we still enjoyed a few visitors and well wishers to each site. We also had the lovely Clarke Joss Photography helping to document the adventure so be sure to check out his photos on the Nuart Aberdeen socials. Aberdeen was blessed with a gift from Katie, as is the case with each of the artists who come to Aberdeen as part of Nuart and all those who come anyway and leave artworks on the streets. Katie herself said when you paint a mural this size you end up leaving a little piece of your soul behind and its a lovely thought when looking at the piece by HYURO. For me I got to ease into 7 weeks of Nuart productions but I couldn't think of a better artist to kick things off or a more deserving friend. Love ya KMG 💖
Thanks to all the Aberdeen posse, Nuart Festival crew and everyone who helped make the worlds biggest Ken a reality, chavin ken!
