Keep up to date with Jason via his instagram @jasonwoodside or at his site jasonwoodside.com
ARTIST PROFILE: JASON WOODSIDE’S TAKE ON COLLABORATION
"I think a good collab is created when the foundation focuses on joint values. A big part is if the creators have chemistry and are they working towards the same goals."
We first met New York based artist Jason Woodside a few years back. An introduction was made through a friend of ours and past collaborator Luke Harwood, co-founder of NZ fashion label Stolen Girlfriends Club and partner with Jason in NYC coffee spot ‘Happy Bones’. A surfer and Floridian native, Jason threw out the idea to us of working together on a board art project with his colourful signature print which later eventuated and launched at Semi Permanent Sydney where he, Hayden and Craig Anderson took to the stage together as creative speakers for the event. This coincided with a Haydenshapes exhibition at Carriageworks, a content piece starring Ando and 3 signature Woodside board prints that were available for a period exclusively on HSSTUDiO custom board designer.
Haydenshapes are known for our collaborative projects and as Hayden says, “it’s a creative outlet for us to step outside the box and try different things.. The less predictable they are and the more I am challenged as a designer, the better.”
Thus, launching a print loaded with colour in Haydenshapes otherwise identifiably black and white monochrome style definitely made a bit of noise.
Jason too is known for a few very cool collaborative projects. Landing a gig as a full time artist is no easy feat either. As a creative we admire, we caught up with him to talk collaboration including how landed himself in the art game..
"I never set out to become an artist and I didn’t think that was a real possibility until I was really exposed around the age of 18 when I moved to NYC. I thought it was crazy that people could make a living painting pictures. I guess I always loved to create things with my hands.. but art stuff was just something I did when the waves were tiny or it was too hot to push around on the skate.. growing up in Florida there was a high possibility of both so I was creating quite a lot. From 9-10 years old to 18."
Aside from our joint creative project together, some of our personal favourite Woodside works are his large scale outdoor murals, a recent clothing capsule collection with Vissla (The tee pictured is available here on our AU site), a pop up space and limited edition shoe print with Adidas, a book for Colette Paris and one of the more unique products/objects – his recent water bottle art collaboration for Lifewtr (currently being served at our Haydenshapes space in El Segundo, L.A).
"I think the formula to collaborating is good chemistry, a simple plan and strong execution. I find I try to stay away from the brands that are too busy or over think things too much.. or do it for the sole purpose of sales. Understood things have to sell.. but if the work comes from a genuine place I feel people tend to click with the brand and collaboration."
The Lifewtr project, along with 2 other artist bottle prints was announced with a major TV commercial that played during the 2016 Superbowl to an audience of more than 111 million viewers – the 3rd most watched broadcast in US T.V history.
"Working with huge companies can be scary in the sense that there’s so many moving parts and personalities.. emails back and fourth with 30 people CC’d talking about you and your art can feel overwhelming. The truth is the foundation was there.. I had a good point person and they listened to my vision of the partnership. The visibility of the outcome was epic.."
There is no mistaking the signature Woodside print. When it comes to his original non-digitised pieces, he creates them mostly off the cuff and in the moment onsite using cardboard stencil spray painted spots, angular lines and load of colour, giving discernible life to otherwise often pretty bland spaces. And… He’s busy. New projects are a constant.
"I have some large scale works coming up in London Los Angeles New York and Sydney before the end of the year. On the collaborative front there’s things in the works and under wraps until we can launch.. all pretty diverse and in a few different fields.. some textile based and automotive. I find being too one dimensional can hinder your progression. A new product is like a new canvas as well as a new demographic."
