Graffiti encounter with Mick la Rock

During this inspiring workshop, artist Mick La Rock takes you inside her artistic practice. Using the rules and principles behind the Latin script, you’ll discover how letters are constructed and why they look the way they do. Once you understand the building blocks of a letter, you can start playing with them. Like clay, letters can be stretched, bent, twisted, and transformed. How far can you take this before they stop being recognisable?

Under Mick's guidance, you'll break down the letters of your own name. You'll then experiment with shape and style to create a personal graffiti version. Along the way, you'll learn why writing your name plays such an important role in graffiti culture.

From that experiment, you can keep abstracting the letters further and further, just as Mick La Rock does in her own work. Letterforms become lines, shapes and movements, while the essence of the letter remains present somewhere in its form. You may still be able to read your name, but it becomes increasingly difficult for others to decipher. This is how you discover how graffiti writers develop a visual language that is personal, recognisable and sometimes almost secret.