Burn353 is a graffiti artist creating graphic characters and design with an old school spin. Burn353’s evolution has grown over 20 years to include gallery shows world wide and toys, skateboard graphics, clothing and jewelry and more. Working for both big and small clients the famous and infamous is a new addition to Arcane Agenda’s catalog of artist. For more of Burn353’s work check out his Instagram ( http://www.instagram.com/burn353 )
We sat down with Burn353 and asked him some questions that first had me thinking since I discovered his Skat Kat character spotlighted in the Reluctant Martyr piece:
Arcane Agenda: What's behind your creation the Reluctant Martyr? How did he come into creation?
Burn353: I came up with Skat Kat many years ago when I was stuck in a nine-to-five job I hated. I was a lead graphic designer for an ungrateful corporation. So that’s part of the reason I designed the character to look defeated and trapped.
Arcane Agenda: Is he the victim of his circumstances or, as you titled the piece, an actual martyr?
Burn353: He wants to die but he can't because we won’t let him. I like the idea that pop culture figures never really die or go away. For example, you’ll still see Betty Boop or Popeye printed on things, yet they haven’t been on tv in a long time. Like we won’t let them die.
Arcane Agenda: I noticed on your Instagram feed that he's put in various perilous situations. Does the Reluctant Martyr mimic your experiences?
Burn353: Yeah. It mimics my feelings of being tied up by my old nine-to-five. I was a lead graphic designer for 13 years. I felt trapped in a job that didn’t appreciate me or my talent. In that job I was surrounded by "frenemies," as I call them. Two-faced backstabbing people. My work represents those feelings I had back in those days.
Arcane Agenda: Why is he ultimately portrayed in various perils in your work?
Burn353: He can never die because he's too popular. Even though he tries to kill himself, he can never die. So, my characters are all zombies in a sense. They also represent how I felt trapped in a thankless job.
Arcane Agenda: Does Skat Kat ever win in the end or is he just alive enough to be thrust into another precarious situation?
Burn353: He never wins. He just can never die. So, no matter how hard they try to kill him. They can't because he's already dead inside, lol. That’s kind of the inside joke part of it for me.
Arcane Agenda: How does it make you feel as an artist to see the Reluctant Martyr turned into a fine art silkscreen print?
Burn353: I think it's cool. I always like seeing my art silkscreened. I love the process since I was a kid. I grew up with 80’s skateboarding. All the decks were silkscreened. So, my work has always been inspired by silkscreened graphics.
Arcane Agenda: What other future cataclysmic situations can we expect him rendered into?
Burn353: He’s going to be doing some Evel Knievel stuff soon. I also have some new characters coming to join Skat Kat. I’ll be making a gang of Frenemies.
Arcane Agenda is proud to offer Burn353’s Reluctant Martyr silkscreened in 11 custom mixed colors on Cougar 100 lb., white paper in a numbered series limited to 25 in the following colors, Chrome Yellow, Hotpink Flourescent, Lime Green, Aqua Green and a dropped color natural white background edition. Each is dated an numbered 1/50 to 50/50. Each includes a Certificate of Authenticity, full color pop up card toy of Bunny Bones, and limited edition sticker and random I Scream Cone handbill.
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