Ernest Zacharevic: Foreign Eye For the Asian Isle

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  17 Aug 2012 in Design

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Perhaps due to the small number of graffiti art in Penang, Ernest never met any trouble when painting on walls. In fact passers-by, sometimes even cops, would simply look over his shoulder as he’s painting and leave after their curiosity is sated. A stark contrast to what would happen to a KL graffiti artist doing the same.

“The uncles who pass me by as I do my art would often say I’m just like Picasso, because that’s the only painter they know, which is funny to me because usually I get Banksy,” however Ernest doesn’t quite identify with the term street art.

“I’m not a street artist, that’s just a trendy name. It’s not graffiti anymore, now it’s street art. Probably gonna be something else in 10 years, I dunno. For me, it’s just painting outdoors.”

In fact, Ernest wants to focus on his personal solo studio work and do more than just commissions from clients. As he says, he doesn’t have just a single influence just as he doesn’t work with just a single medium. This isn’t to say he’s not accepting those anymore though, Ernest is currently in talks with Urbanscapes for some sort of installation come this November at the festival. While nothing is confirmed yet, Ernest says they have “ambitions” for it. And guess what? This won’t be the only project he will be working on in KL.

When asked of his influences, Ernest can’t be specific. Having grown up in a post-socialist Lithuania, he still remembers the country through the filter of childhood and it has stuck with him since to affect some of his work. There’s more than just that though, his creative synapses get triggered by ridiculous things.

“I’d look at a piece of rubbish on the floor and think; oh, where did that come from? Did someone throw it? Who threw it? Maybe he read a book? What book? And it just goes deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. The next day that piece of rubbish is already on a canvas.”

Curiously, despite the relative success he has had here, Ernest is still a bit of a struggling artist. His activities these days involve calling people and arranging meetings. “I need full creative license and do more personal work, now it seems like I’m doing mostly random projects. I’m trying to be a full time artist at the moment, which I was never that back home – I had 5 other full time jobs besides doing art!”

It turns out Ernest is something of a jack of all trades. Back in London he had worked as an art teacher, bartender, designer, photographer, music video director, and even animator. Each one of the vocations he had taken up played a role in shaping his art, Ernest regretted none of it.

“Do what you like, doesn’t matter if it’s art or not art. Less thinking and do more. A lot of people feel restricted by their society and family, they think they need to do something more. Even if it’s plumbing, if you enjoy it, then go ahead and do plumbing. People might say it’s a waste of time, but you know what?” asks Ernest. There was a moment of clarity, a pause, before he imparts us with the best advice we heard in a long while;

“The time you enjoy wasting is not a waste of time.”

Ernest Zacharevic can be found on his website at www.zachas.com. Ernest’s collaborative exhibition Rescube was held last month.