SWEATS

SWEATS

Bold and primal, SWEATS creates expressive work that’s rooted in feeling over formula. His pieces begin in abstraction—colour, rhythm, and motion—before faces, figures, and features like eyes, lips, and teeth emerge. The process is instinctive, driven by emotion and energy, aiming to strike the senses first and let meaning follow. At times, the effect edges into synaesthesia—where colour feels like sound and texture carries mood—inviting viewers to connect with the layered, unfiltered experience of being human in their own way. What comes through is a mix of off-beat energy, unusual details, and pure experimentation. Collisions and impulsive imperfections come together to form faces that don’t quite conform but feel raw, alive, and full of character. There’s beauty in the unrefined—a kind of truth that’s as much about what’s left open as what’s intentional. Working across studio, street, and screen, SWEATS plays with high-contrast colour, gestural mark-making, sharp stencils, and fractured typography to keep things pulsing and untamed. Music is a constant driver, shaping the rhythm and movement of each piece and bringing physicality into the process. Textures echo the grit of photocopiers, faxes, and lo-fi print culture, with a playful undercurrent that keeps it all loose and energetic. With a background in painting, illustration, and design, SWEATS works across a variety of media—from fine art and murals to print, sculpture, and collectables. Over the past two decades, he’s shaped a creative life across Aotearoa, Australia, the UK, and Asia. Now based in Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau, he works from a shared studio and co-runs Eyes On Fire Gallery—an artist-led space centred on collaboration, community, and making things happen.