Traveling between Newport News and RVA, Marlon Diggs is making moves in art circles.
Traveling between Newport News and RVA, Marlon Diggs is making moves in art circles. He recently hit us up about showing his work and within a few days, we got on the horn for an interview. “Street Pop” is what he calls his stuff and that seems to fit the bill. Made from recycled paper, acrylic paints and pop imagery, his work is youth culture imagery fed through the prism of perhaps watching too much TV as a youth–but when it produces work this good, it’s hard to argue. Check out more on instagram at @marly_mcfly87
This article appeared in RVAMag #21 Summer 2015 print edition. Check out the entire mag here!
How long have you been painting?
I’ve always had it, but I officially got started in 2011.
What’s your background?
Grew up in the 757. Art was always one of my big dreams. As I grew through school I was always pushing into other things. Like, you know, “You don’t want to do anything else to potentially make more money?” I did go to college, I went to ODU and got a degree there. Art was just the one thing that I always wanted to be my dream, so I’ve pretty much come full circle. I did the college thing, I did the route people wanted me to go, now I’m right back where I wanted to be in the first place.
How was the jump back to art?
In 2011, I was a manager at a retail store, and all the stress, the long holidays, the long hours… art was my getaway. I’m going crazy at this point. It started out as a hobby, me getting back into it, and that was also around the time that I really started getting into instagram and social media. Other people started picking up and were like, “I never knew you had this talent,” because I had gotten so far away from it. It was new to a lot of people around me.
What kind of art do you consider your work to be?
I would say “street pop.” A lot of pop art references, but I have that street grittiness to it. I would say a happy medium.
What’s your medium to work in? Digital or physical?
All physical. Mostly acrylic [and] aerosol [paint]–a nice combination of both.
Do you print some of the images and then paint them?
A lot of them are old comics I have laying around, or materials I found in the thrift store, or things I had when I was younger. But for the most part, I do paint a lot of them by hand.
Where do you take your inspiration?
Either old childhood memories, [or] a lot of them are subliminal things in my life. A lot of things are like women crying; that could be something stemming from a relationship I was in, or different things in my life. A lot of them are subliminal things about myself.
You’ve got a lot of the Simpsons in your recent work – are you a Milhouse or a Bart?
I relate more with Milhouse. I am a big nerd at heart, but somehow I’m in it to be one of the cool nerds. I never understood how that worked out over the years but it’s been going good for me. I’ve always been a big Simpsons fan, even when I was younger and wasn’t supposed to be watching the Simpsons. That rebel-ness in Bart is something that rubbed off on me as well. But that nerd side of Milhouse, that’s something I was tied into myself.
You’re a Black artist, and your work sometimes reflects Black people. Do you feel a connection, or a need to put that identity in your art?
That’s another big theme that I picked up over the last year. You know, a lot of people know me being a wack artist–they would prefer me to do Black art. But you’ll notice a lot of the people I do, they aren’t any skin tone. It’s either an outline or very colorful. I like to play on that, I don’t want to marginalize. I don’t worry about skintone or ethnicity, just people as a whole.
What’s your process like?
Start to finish, I like to look for old comics, or look for old rotted paper to get that texture I like. Then I just think back to growing up, to the things that made me who I am today. Whether that’s waking up on saturday and watching cartoons… what got me through. And I try to tie it into my today. With Milhouse, I was always that nerd that just happened to end up being a popular guy, and I think Milhouse has become one of the more popular Simpson characters.
Has social media been a big part of your success?
Definitely. It definitely has opened up a lot of doors, and the networking opportunities are limitless. I’m shipping art to places I’ve never even been, like Amsterdam [and] New Zealand. All places I’ve always dreamed about going. My art is there before I got there! I’m hoping it opens the door for me to get to those places someday. It’s definitely something I’m continuing to strive for.
What do you think are key elements in your standout pieces?
My line usage. They’re bold and at times they can be shaky, but I want that–it can grab your attention. But I also have to have my bright colors. A lot of people that want commission work are like, “Well, I want earth tones.” And I’m like, “I’m really not your guy for that.” I like my bright details. Neon colors–I’ve got to have those.
Have there been profound moments for you that made you think you made it?
When I first started, it seemed like everybody was doing the same thing. So then I hit the point where it’s like, “What can I do where I’m still myself, but I’m standing out from those others?” At the time, I would paint cartoon characters straight out. [I’d think,] ”How can I make that mine?” So that’s when I started playing with different textures and different colors, with different layers. That’s a big thing for me now–layers on layers. I got that initial painting, but then I add two to three more layers on top of that, to the point that it’s a lot of things going on.
You’re from 757 and RVA. Do you put your hometown in your work, or this is a way out?
A little of both. RVA is the one place I can say in the world where you can get that big city vibe, but also that hometown feeling at the same time. Everything about RVA is my personality. From that little mom and pop restaurant to the local favorite spots, that’s the type of guy I am. So you can get that big city vibe that you would get in New York or LA, but you still have that hometown feeling. So it’s one of those things–I can make my name there, but it prepares me for those bigger places as well.
