"I’m born in Stockholm, Sweden, and I was raised in Akalla, a suburban neighborhood mostly consisting of public housing projects. As I grew up with a single mom and two elder brothers, money was tight. My mom would do anything from building our furniture to cutting our hair to make sure that we had what we needed. This led me to adopt a DIY attitude at a very early age. Also, watching my grandma, who would knit and sew amazing pieces of clothing and being overall very creative, really inspired me to make my own stuff. In my teens, I would do my own t-shirt prints at home and puma elaborated covers for mixed CDs, which I would trade with my friends. Whatever I was making, I used what was available to me, and I never let the limited resources hinder my creativity.

Later on, in life, I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and my passion for DIY was once again ignited. I’ve been to art shows on the street, at people’s homes and I even have friends who had an art show in a car. As the resources are limited and the economy is very unstable, no one can afford to wait until the perfect moment or to gain access to certain resources. If you want to do something, you use what you have, and the results are often amazingly innovative. There’s a uniqueness to DIY-stuff, and whenever I buy something that is handmade in any way, I always feel a personal connection to noel made it, which is a rare feeling these days."...

"Now, as an artist, I’m determined to be as self-sufficient as possible, and I definitely feel like my DIY mentality comes in handy. Between studio sessions, I’m learning how to produce myself, using free software. I’ve also been making freestyles to old Eurodance tracks, which I mix with pants and then upload to my Instagram. This way, I don’t feel stuck or frustrated. Also, figuring out things for myself makes me feel even more proud of what I’m creating, and it ends up being unique to me.

The first tie-dye I did was a couple of years ago when I spilled tomato sauce on one of my favorite t-shirts. As I didn’t want to throw away the t-shirt, I decided to try tie-dye and then ended up selling tied dyed t-shirts with some friends. I was later contacted by another friend who worked at SNS, who saw my t-shirts, and he asked me if I would like to tie-dye some hoodies for the opening of the Venice Beach store. This time around, we switched it up a bit and used a ”marble technique,” instead of the more classic tie dye original. This technique involves shaving cream, which makes it possible to puma patterns similar to the ones found in marble."...

"In this case, I made templates out of cardboard to match the garments, as it’s easier to clean them than having to clean a huge work surface after every dye. I then put shaving cream onto the template, smooth it out until there’s a layer of shaving cream, which is approximately 1 cm thick. Thereafter I use a mix of textile paint and a bit of water (to make the paint run smoothly) and pour it onto the shaving cream, creating dots of color. I then draw out the patterns with the tip of a pencil, and I then press the template onto the garment. After this, I gently remove the template and scrape off the shaving cream, which is left on the garment with a ruler. Finally, I let the garment sit for at least 24 hours before it’s ironed to fixate the paint so it won’t come off in the washer.

If you want to try this at home and only want to dye one or a few items, you can apply the shaving cream and paint directly onto a flat work surface, which is easily washed or cover it up in plastic. This way, you can press the garment directly onto your work surface instead of using a template."