Heesco recently currated a art exhibition collaborating with Melbournian Benj Binks who has spent last 4 years documenting the burgeoning hip hop scene in Mongolia. Mongo Hustle featured portraits of Mongolian street artists ANZ, DEEZ, ASO, RUSTY, RAFFISHCOCK, and ETOSTARR, to highlight the small but developing scene in Mongolia and its pioneers. We were lucky enough to get our hands on Heesco's art and show our support by digitally printing his artwork onto our tee's. So RAD. 

Hi James, How has your day been?

I've been running on three hours sleep a day juggling a day job with illustration at night so I'm pretty

exhausted,but feeling good! I'm busy every minute of the day so at least I'm not wasting any time.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, Age? Location? Hometown?

25, Sydney, originally from Maroubra Beach

What are you working on at the moment? How long have you been working on it for?

Right now I'm doing the poster and branding for the Hevy Music Festival in the UK, then I'll be doing a

mural for the SBS World Movies Channel Office, and then after that I'll be working on some collaborations

with some fashion designers and stylists. The poster had a long deadline so I was able to do other projects

during that time, I'm going to wrap it all up tonight so looking forward to getting all that finally finished!

What was your very first art piece which you are most proud of and made you realize you could make a living

off of it?

I don't know if there ever was a point I realised I could make a living off it. I had artwork that was getting

me some good exposure and feedback but it wasn't like I was getting paid for it. Haha I don't think I'm

actually making a living off it.

Where does your style and inspiration come from?

Right now I'm inspired by all this neouvau goth imagery going around, fashion editorials, and post apocalytpic

themes. In terms of artists I'm influenced by the subject matter and compositions of Suehiro Marou, Junji Itto,

Tetsuo Hara, and all the Japense-made American cartoons of the 90s like Galaxy Rangers, Silverhawks,

Visionaries, Thundercats etc.

Do you travel much ? Where was the last place you travelled to outside of your city?

I try to travel as much as I can, there's nothing like the sensory overload of a completely foreign city.Last

place I went to was Kuala Lumpur, to visit this artist that I really like called Munkao. He took me and my mate

around and showed us the galleries etc. and I bought one of his drawings, which was a pain to carry around

because it was framed etc. I had a fever for most of the trip though so I was pretty delirious, and I was

reading Neouromancer, which didn't help, I was in a bit of a permanent panic.

Do you snowboard ?

If I ever had time, maybe I would, but nope.

We had many great comments with your art on our snowboards, a lifty at Perisher mentioned that he was your mate

after seeing Nathan get on the lift, we love that your art is so recognizable. What is the future for James

Jirat Patradoon?

It's funny you should say that because my work hasn't really been going in a direction I like. I did a solo

show last year which took a lot out of me but I felt like it was still just the cusp of something a lot bigger

that I wanted to explore. I was broke after the show, so I was taking on any and all jobs to recuperate and get

the rent and materials paid, but that just sent me into a really bad place where I felt like was doing work in

a style that I felt was outdated to the direction I wanted to go into. I've since shifted my priorities to take

on less commercial work and do my own thing now, so we'll see how it goes! I'm not in as much of a mad rush as

I used to be.

Thanks James for taking time out for us here at Koast HQ.

For all you Melbournites Heesco has added his mark to the wall of fame at the ACDC lane in Mebourne city.

Check out our stand at the 2010 Snowsports Industry of Australia trade show. Thanks to the SIA for awarding us 'best new comer'.

http://www.facebook.com

Nathan riding our pre-production Tip & Tail rocker 2011 in back country NSW. More pics of this adventure

www.facebook.com/

Following is a section taken from the media release.

'Congratulations to Paul White on taking out the 2010 Metro Gallery Art Award 'Judges Choice'.

Thirty four year old Paul White has taken out the $40,000 Metro Gallery Judges Award for 2010. His entry, called ‘Lost Dreaming of Dinosaurs under Fossil Fuelled Rainbows’ is a very large 110 x 170 cm pencil on paper work of stripped back old cars in meticulous detail. “All the cars in the drawing are Australian and American cars from the 1970s including the classic Holden Toranas, Kingswoods, Panel Vans, Chevvy Camaros and Pontiacs,” said White. “I was born in that decade and I love cars from that era, they remind me of my childhood growing up in the suburbs when my two favourite things were cars and art. I still love them now and have two Toranas today.

“This drawing explores the passing of time and how objects change from being indispensable one day to being obsolete the next. These cars that once used fossil fuels have now become extinct like dinosaurs. Stripped for their parts, they are now decaying and useless. But nonetheless, there is still some sort of beauty in the imagery of what they are now and what they once were.”

Launched in the antipodean winter of 2009, Koast Kollektive is an emerging independent streetwear/snowboard label based in Sydney, Australia. Drawing on the complimentary talents of a global kommunity of artists, designers, technical wizards, shredders, and many amazing friends, Koast is carving a niche using the interface of streetwear, art and snowboarding. From our  snowboards that combine state-of-the-art technologies and design with iconoclastic artwork, to our raw and uncompromising streetwear, with the support of our kollektive we endeavour to bring you the freshest product this side of Tsukiji Market. 

Please explore our home on the web, and do not hesitate to get in touch for more This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Yours sincerely,

Koast Kollektive :)