by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

His work is firmly planted in the hip pop-art aesthetic of the moment, which draws on graffiti, cartoons, intuitive collage and high-school binder doodles. But Victoria, BC-based Luke Ramsey, far too well-travelled for his 25 years, stands out among his contemporaries. He uses his chosen elements with an unusual awareness, and even at his most chaotic, he telegraphs his intentions with engaging clarity. The approach of his Ode to Joy show at the gallery-boutique Turf in Old Montreal, which he'll kick off with a session of live mural-painting and installation work similar to previous jams at locales like the Jungle Red store in Taiwan, was all the prompting the Mirror needed to seek out a fistful of 411 on Ramsey.

Mirror: What sort of art training do you have?

Luke Ramsey: I've been drawing since I could pick up a crayon. I decided to travel as soon as I graduated high school. So I guess life trained me. I've always watched cartoons, collected toys and read comic books. I did the whole New York-London-Paris circuit, searching through galleries and museums for inspiration. I got a lot from it, but also got overwhelmed. Then I moved to Taiwan for a while, and realized that my love for art has always been derived from drawing.

M: You've done installation work at spaces similar to Turf in Taiwan. What brought you there?

LR: I was hungry for a change in lifestyle. I did a lot of art there, with a couple of trips to Tokyo. I did a few secret stencils around the town I lived in. I painted a mural in a Taipei toy store. I also did my first-ever show with Keith Jones. My friends Matt Moroz and Jen Porter did a show at the same venue. I was blown away by it, so I was inspired to do one myself.

M: I've noticed that you draw on, and in fact create, graffiti and street art.

LR: I'm inspired more by the actions of a street artist than his or her creation. I love it because it's an open space that's free to anyone who wants to manipulate it. The street represents ugliness to me. Then the art creates beauty from that ugliness. I don't push it as much as some, but I always admire the ones who go all out.

M: You seem fond of layering, particularly in large scale, and clashing media.

LR: I love working on a larger scale because it gives space for errors that work in my favour. I like to treat life like that, too. The layering come from the opposite approach, making the most of a specific space. Clashing media comes from finding things that are not always obvious. It's all a lot of art gibberish sometimes. I just let it come out from within.

M: Another thing I've noticed in your work are bunnies galore. What's with all the bunnies?

LR: I use the bunnies because they represent the hare in the story ‘The Tortoise and the Hare.' I'm trying to remind myself that the hare loses the race because he's too confident with his speed. I'll be using tortoises galore at some point. I love to run like the hare, with the humble heart of the tortoise.

Ode to Joy runs from Friday, Sept. 24 to Saturday, Oct. 2 at Turf Gallery (410 St-Pierre). Vernissage Friday, Sept. 24, 5 p.m.