Ethereal Ephemeroh Gets Strictly Featured

Artist Ephemeroh embodies the beautifully fleeting and temporal nature of art on the street and upstairs here at Mom’s. His whimsical wheatpastes are billowing dreams of windows into another world. He recently did a series of installations here in preparation for his collaborative launch with Strictly Featured, a fresh new start up that merges street art with fashion.

 

We caught up with Ephemeroh between fresh paste and the perfect tee shirt for a chat about art, dreams & collaborations.

 

We’re always excited to see a new piece of yours pop up on the street or here at Mom’s. How did you begin sharing your work publicly?

 

I began putting up my work in public places after moving from West Philly to West Kensington, with the help of fellow street artists and studio mates, Giappo and Pyramid Oracle.

 

Your wheatpastes have an ethereal, dreamlike vibe to them. Are you inspired by your dream life or is life a dream? 
I’ve been hearing this a lot recently and taking it as a huge compliment. My life is a dream in many ways but I think the dream like vibe comes from compositions that would only make sense or actualize in a dream. I hope that is the case.
What is it about TMoms that works as a spot to put up your art? 
Any spot that isn’t offensive works as a spot to put up my work but TMoms is special. It offers a place for artists to work in, under, over, within and around other artists work. I love it.
Was there a particular inspiration for the pieces you chose to install here? 
I wanted to present the contrast in my work, show off my range I guess. I put up pieces that I thought were more painterly in contrast with prints of the window. The window has been an inspiration for a while and is a big part of the collab with Strictly Featured.
The collaboration with Strictly Featured is tight! How did that come about?
 
Jack from Strictly Featured reached out to me about doing this collaboration and I was very interested.  Months earlier I had designed, created, and sold my work on sweatshirts with not much to show for it and this was really what I needed.  They basically gave me free reign to design a few articles of clothing. I told them that I wanted insight and that critique was necessary. So we ended up meeting every week for months and I took what they had to say, letting go of ideas, pursuing new ideas, altering ideas. The process was incredible. I can’t say enough good things about Strictly Featured and the collaboration. We put together something special and I’m thankful to all those involved.
See more of Ephemeroh’s work on his Instagram.
Check out the Strictly Featured x Emphemero line of tees and hats.
 

20th Anniversary Artist Edition Tee: Merde Illegal

We’re celebrating our 20th year on South Street by inviting the talented folks who make Mom’s beautiful to share their unique vision on a tee shirt. First up is the rad Jason Vivona. His Merde Illegal wheatpaste mandalas bloom upstairs whenever he travels to Philly. We’re excited to have his work on the walls and stoked to be able to share a piece of his wearable art with you.

 

We asked Jason how his visits to Mom’s inspired his design:

“On top of the warmest of welcomes, great vibes and absolute generosity exhibited by Robert and the entire tribe at Tattooed Mom, the year that I’ve been acquainted with the people and establishment has been amazingly positive as well as realizing that people throughout my own life, also share a positive and lasting connection with TMoms. So I’m honored to be included in the celebration of their anniversary.”

 

The Merde Illegal x TMoms 20th Anniversary tee shirt will be released on September 1st. Available in metallic silver on a black tee in a full range of sizes. Limited edition run, so don’t sleep!

 

We’re excited to share more of these special designs with you over the next 12 months. Stay tuned for details on the next 20th Anniversary Artist Edition tee shirt.