skate ramps. A practice he employs still
today. The improvisation of materials for
canvas allows him to continuously make
art. The materials found/procured/available
dictate the type of piece he creates. He
vehemently believes that as materials
become scarce, the desperation and
profundity bleed into the piece expressedly.
Cheap spent a year in South Beach, Miami
along his travels as a younger man, a
year he speaks of with much exuberance.
Especially of the Art Deco villas along Ocean
Boulevard. The palette from which he derives
his use of brilliant color largely corresponds
to the Cuban influence on the architecture
in this sector of Miami. “The colors bounce,”
he says.
how he regards his own work.
He has also been heavily influenced by his
time spent as a tattoo shop boy at Tribal
Rites under the tutelage of Curtis Burgess.
Although never an apprentice, being in an
environment surrounded by talented tattoo
artists urged Cheap to push his own ability
with pencil and paper. Other influences
include Latin American graffiti artists, Denver
street art, and local iconoclast, Jack Jensen.
Understanding this about Cheap, his post
modern efforts are poignant, approachable,
and understated. Cheap believes there is a
certain impermanence to art (which would
philosophically place him in the “non-tattooer”
bracket), an ideal that offers stone insight into
These days, Cheap is forever positive,
regarding his past with a glint of
understanding. While studying in Fort
Collins, his art professors and mentors urged
Cheap to follow a path outside of university
- the program was actually hampering his
endeavors. Cheap took the advice and has
not looked back.
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