My name is Dante and I am a 27 year old Gamilaraay/Wadi Wadi artist living with schizoaffective disorder. I was born and raised in the Northern Rivers NSW and am currently located in Naarm/Melbourne VIC. I publish my art under the name “PiG SPiT” and have been running my own business and selling art since late 2019.
As well as original art and prints I also make one-off hand painted items including clothing, notebooks, & badges, and make art doll sculptures which I sell and donate a portion of the profits to charity. I have also been experimenting with larger-scale murals & clothing design.
I only recently started showing my art to the world, however I started drawing as soon as I could pick up a pencil, and haven’t stopped since. For me, art isn’t a want or a desire- it’s an insatiable need just as pervasive and primal as the basic physical requirements such as eating, sleeping, and breathing that keep us alive. I live colour, it is in my blood, my brain, my soul.
MY ART
The basis of most of my works is inspired by something that is a stark reality for me, but unseen by most human eyes. Ever since I was a child I have seen unfathomable creatures that wander through different dimensions and realities, seeming to transcend space and time, occasionally visiting earth to observe, and give insight and guidance.
These creatures communicate with me- sometimes through telepathy, and other times through speech, a distorted alien accent speaking an unknown language that my brain somehow translates with ease- sometimes they bestow great wisdom, and sometimes it is pure depravity unfit for human ears. When these creatures appear before me, they radiate light and colour like nothing I’ve ever seen. They radiate every inch of the colour spectrum, and other colours that are completely inexplicable. My use of repeating lines in seven different colours is an attempt at communicating the explosion of colour and vibrancy in a way that human eyes can easily process.
I use repeating motifs and symbols in my art that have great significance to me, and are relevant to my experiences with these creatures, and my own spiritual journey. An example of this is two small dots that appear on a lot of my creatures foreheads- a large red dot, representative of passion and energy, and a smaller purple dot, which symbolises spiritual insight. Numbers appear in my works as well- if not in their alphanumeric form, I will place symbols in groups of 3, 7, and 9; 3 for unity, 7 for luck, and 9 for spirituality. I use typography to communicate brief concepts and ideas that are related to things that the creatures have said to me.