I was raised in lower Manhattan, semi catholic, semi Puerto Rican, and from my meager upbringings I now know I was destined to become someone very semi to super boring. Little did I know I was on a course for a creative adventure of a lifetime! I was to become a graffiti artist, professionally where there really was none before!
And in the decades to follow I have painted many miles of color that would surely reach the moon and back several times (I’m not terribly sure that’s true but it sure feels that way judging from my daily aches and pains). I have been blessed with an amazing talent, without it I would be someone very regular.
EVLworld is my brainchild. The name, taken from my initials (Erni Vales Limited) is really just an extension of my tiny graffiti crew called Newave Artist. My belief then, as in now was to push the graffiti envelope of style as far as an 18-year-old kid in a wonderfully depressed NYC could possibly. That was a very different NYC than the playground to the wealthy it is today. That’s another story though.
The subways then were an urban delight to witness! Mitch 77, Crash, Dondi, so many people painting amazing pieces weekly, colorizing the urban blight that was NYC then! It was amazing and style would grow with each piece I saw! To me the essence of graffiti was and is to always keep getting better. Challenge yourself stylistically, be badder than everyone around you. Try to “burn” everyone! To do that I needed practice, a lot of practice!
Now for me, getting better included several things. Refining my paint control, which came with practice, expand my graffiti style which I did daily in drawings and sketches getting myself ready for trains! But my most important element was to think outside the box. I did that a lot! I did an upside down piece on a train with my pal Midg, everyone did top 2 bottoms, and we did a bottom 2 top. We did 5.5 whole trains, Midg, King Size, Party Paze, KR and Fome and Ence! I painted a checkerboard train with graffiti influenced by the Pink Floyd The Wall album art! I did then and still continue to do things that no one else would try! That’s how I came to be the first graffiti artist to paint the popular 3D graffiti style in 93.
Graffiti was and is about style, style is king! EVLworld allows me to continue to push my styles, to continue the challenges and to continue to create and showcase new ideas and concepts, it’s just a small start but its something I hope inspires others to grow their styles, challenge the mainstreams and get their works out there! That’s real graffiti, find your path, and get up all over it!