Victor Blanchard

Remember that waiting room art you saw the last time you went to the dentist's office? Me neither. What I hope to bring to a very saturated but quite bland Houston street art scene is the type of sophistication and subtlety more often found in galleries and museums. Houston's murals are like this—skyline, skyline, boring abstract, skyline, memorial, pedestrian phrase "Houston is Inspired, ART EVERYWHERE Houston," etc., skyline . . . Need I go on?

Peppered throughout are interesting and thought-provoking pieces, but like pepper, most people ain't using enough of it! I'm Cajun, sue me. Houston seems to need to insist and convince the viewer or the tourist that we give a crap about urban culture and imagery. As often as possible I want to be a part of being apart from that mentality. Houston is a fantastic city full of racial and cultural diversity, so our public art ought to reflect this.

In 2017 I traveled to Berlin, Germany to complete three mural projects. Berlin had nothing to prove, it showed. I don't compete for wall space in this city, I don't have anything to prove and murals are but one of my wares. No creative freedom? No thanks.

Frequently and where appropriate I love to make large multi-coloured patterned pieces. I have a strong attraction to printed textile, old-school wall papers, and the like. I may in some ways be emulating these themes. Using (mostly triangle) stencils and my trusty aerosol, I believe it is accurate to say that I build these pieces rather than paint them. Did I mention that I love triangles? Right, well they're the best shape. Fight me!

I'd like to see more abstract art in the streets—works that don't give up "the goods" so easily. I don't do these, but even some political satire or cultural commentary would be welcomed. I will, as often as possible, attempt to deviate and digress from the norm. I have always sucked at assimilation and conformity and I don't think my works would be honest if I tried fitting in. I might even gravitate toward certain imagery specifically because it is less prevalent. It's that classic SEIYGE ZELLEZ hardheadedness coming through.

Victor "SEIYGE ZELLEZ" Blanchard was born and raised and is still living and working in Third Ward, Houston. He is the Owner/Operator of ISOSCELES KREW, LLC, a small design firm that makes large and small commissioned visual arts, installations, furniture, and hosts and produces experience-driven events.

"I have had to constantly reinvest in myself. I have let go of and returned to the interests that have always served me well. Art and design are examples of this. At times I have lost touch with creativity in the pursuit of professional accomplishment, education, relationships, or other such distractions. I say they were distractions, but they were also what I believed to be avenues to the connection and community that I desperately wanted. When they weren't and after suffering rejection, disappointment, or unfulfillment, me and creative endeavours were all that were left. I have had to get right with the seasonal presence of collaborators, colleagues, friends, etc. Alone, I came back, often quite aggressively, to my craft. Good call past Victor."