Tiki Jay One
People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For one local artist, who goes by the name of Tiki Jay One, an addition to that sentiment might be that art is in the eye of the creator.
A long-time graffiti writer, illustrator, and commercial designer, Tiki’s also well-known for his murals. Signed with his iconic Easter Island Head signature, you can find most of these murals here in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
He’s also worked on pieces in New York and Arizona and even throughout Europe in Paris, England, and Amsterdam.
Through his art, Tiki Jay One shares his passion and love for his craft and his interpretations of the world around him.
“To me, art means seeing the world in a personal way, original unto yourself,” Tiki said. “Once renaissance painters began painting photographically, the only thing that made art important after that was a person’s vision that was original in the world.”
Naming artists like Van Gogh, Jackson Polluck, and Thomas Hart Benton, and architect Frank Gehry, Tiki explained how they pushed the evolution of art. “These artists give us a vision of something new and different,” he said. “They see the world differently; that’s what art is.”
Exploring His World Through Art
After creating art for decades and even teaching it, Tiki refined his own unique art styles as he explored various forms.
“I started by trying to get my parents’ attention and decided to draw things that I saw just as I saw them – perfectly,” Tiki said, laughing to himself. “I could even look at another drawing and draw it exactly as it appeared.”
Able to duplicate what he saw, Tiki soon developed different art styles, including realistic drawing, cartoon drawing, and adult-style political cartoon drawing. Also dabbling in the art of break dancing, Tiki made the natural jump to creating graffiti art in 1988. “Being a part of that world, I found that graffiti was just another version of that, just in a 2D format,” he said. Graffiti writing quickly became his favorite medium to work with, as spray paint allowed him to paint anywhere and on anything.
The Art of Graffiti Writing
Explaining the history and importance of this particular art form, he shared how graffiti writers use graffiti as a theme for things like rebellion and dissent. And, there’s a difference between actual graffiti art and using spray paint for art.
“We risk life, limb, and freedom in the pursuit of our work; that’s what a graffiti writer does. Unless you’re breaking the law, you’re not doing graffiti; you’re doing aerosol art,” he said. “I can’t claim the title of graffiti writer if I’m not doing illegal works. Even slapping a sticker on a pole is illegal.”
Moreover, Tiki explained that there’s a code in the world of graffiti writing.
“It’s an old guard, as old graffiti is largely gone, but it made an uprising after the protests last year,” he said. “There are rules involved that I follow, like don’t cover someone else’s work unless you’re going to do something better. I also won’t write graffiti on private property like homes, but I will do it on public city buildings that our taxes pay for.”
Art as a Reprieve to the Weight of the World
Developing his style over several decades, Tiki describes his style as bold. With reflections of pop culture, he creates a new vernacular in visualized culture.
“I’m making my own language of expression through these images of pop art,” he said. Through that expression, he offers people a respite with an “island-style” feeling incorporated in his art.
“There’s so much socio-political big tech politics occurring throughout all of our entertainment. I believe that art, especially my art, should be a vacation away from any of the political aspects of today’s life,” he said.
Tiki Jay One – Evolving as an Artist
Over the years, art has meant different things at different times for Tiki Jay One. “Now that I’m what you call a seasoned vet, art has become the difference between my personal work and the work that keeps the lights on,” he said.
With this shift, he said that one of the biggest challenges he faces is finding work. “Art is a fickle business; one day you’re in and one day you’re not,” he explained. “It’s also hard knowing that someone will pay someone to paint a wall a single color before paying someone like me to paint it multiple colors.”
In response, Tiki said that he must work to keep up his artistic stamina and persevere to overcome this challenge. “To maintain a certain sense of endurance is a task unto itself. But, it’s very rewarding since I don’t have to wear a uniform or name tag,” he said. “You have to remind yourself not to give up; believe in yourself and your work in order to keep going.”
In addition to these challenges, the ongoing pandemic brought its own obstacles for him as well. “The situation offered me many challenges I had to overcome,” he said. “My work became stronger, and I got to focus and be flexible with my work.”
Now, Tiki’s primary focus moving forward involves rebranding his style and creating success for himself despite the pandemic.
(Article continues after ad)
Sponsored Ad
Teaching at the Art Insitute
For 10 years, Tiki also taught art at the Art Institute’s Las Vegas campus. Unfortunately, this for-profit school infamously shut down due to massive amounts of federal funding fraud.
The Department of Justice charged the former owner of the institutes, Education Management Corp, with $11 billion in federal funding fraud. While some loan forgiveness programs worked to help defrauded students, many are still waiting for relief; some upwards of $90,000 for a degree they couldn’t use or complete the program for after the school closed.
“AI is a bittersweet situation,” Tiki said. “In the end, certain parties turned it into a civil war between the teachers and faculty. We worked for six months without pay after they told us they’d pay us for our work.”
As of this time, the Art Insitute of Las Vegas has yet to compensate Tiki and his colleagues for those last six months. Despite this, Tiki reports that he’s come out stronger in the end.
“The silver lining behind leaving AI was that my mural work blew up in Las Vegas valley,” he said. After ending his tenure at AI, he worked on various projects for Cosmopolitan, the Luxor, Shade Tree, and other local organizations.
Tiki Jay One in the Community
Tiki occasionally works with other artists and with different organizations to collaborate on various projects in both Vegas and beyond.
“I love doing collaboration pieces that are fun and important to the community,” he said. One such collaboration includes “Project AMP” with the City of Las Vegas. Through this program, Tiki will help paint electrical boxes.
“I also worked on some murals for Chipotle and created some original pieces for their home base in Newport Beach,” he said. He shared the pictures seen below of the finished pieces.
Tiki also just finished a mural for the Tatt Bros tattoo shop here in Vegas back in August.
To see more of Tiki Jay One’s art, check out his portfolio on his website and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For questions, comments or commissions, contact Tiki at troyjames1@gmail.com.
“For Those About to Create Art, I Salute You”
Tiki shared some advice to up-and-coming artists, saying that if you want to be an artist, then go for it; live your dream.
“Art’s what I want to do, and while creating art is work, it’s work that I like doing,” he said. “It gives me the confidence in myself to create the life I want to live.”
Referencing how people in the know call graffiti writing “rocking” or saying they’re about to “rock that car/rock that wall,” he concluded by sharing his own version of an AC/DC lyric: “for those about to create art, I salute you.”
