Eye Sticker is watching over New York City. Drawing on elements of nostalgia and at times a dark sense of humor, the artist behind the eyeball offers a new way to view city life. The iconic pink hued stickers demand your attention and are saccharine gems to be searched for and treasured. The artist recently sat down with UP to discuss her appreciation of hard work, creating for herself, and the women killing it in the art scene. The following conversation was lightly condensed and edited for clarity and brevity.
How did you start making Eye Sticker?
Eye Sticker was in my head for a long time before I started. That’s first. I’ve always wanted to do street art or stickers or something in that nature and finally had time during the pandemic around the summer of 2020.
I just started to put this giant sticker around Lower East Side and Soho. The account grew and I also started to do more wheat paste and digital art. Recently, I started to do more painting with acrylic. I have also been drawing my entire life, not Eye Sticker, but just drawing.
First of all, I’m creating for me. It’s coming out sometimes very dark or a little funny sometimes. A little nostalgia in it. I just like to incorporate that in my art. I like when it’s moving people’s memories or giving them some kind of emotion. That’s what I’m trying to do. First of all, I’m creating for myself and then I just love to share everything and hope people like what they see.
What’s your background in art?
Like I said, I’ve been drawing since forever. I’m also a creative director, that’s my personal job and I used to be an architect, so I’ve always been focusing on creating and art or design or stuff like that, so I guess it’s just natural of me to just create. Art is something I always wanted to create so it’s about time.
Art is something I always wanted to create so it’s about time.
What are you inspired by?
I’m inspired by hard work and getting into a high level of detail. I love details. With drawing, I love doing realistic drawing. If I see someone that does something with a lot of details and like very realistic, I’m like “oh my God, how’d they make it?” That’s my inspiration. Or people that work so hard and are painting all day, all night. There are many artists that I’m inspired by. Keep moving and keep creating and in the art space it’s so easy to just like say “oh my God everybody so amazing like, I suck I don’t want to do anything anymore.”
But I actually get a lot of inspiration from people that just keep going. I’m trying to heal myself from thinking that everything needs to be perfect, because what is perfect?
When I’m creating, it’s very intuitive, like, I don’t put a lot of thought before. I only understand what I created after I’ve created it.
But I actually get a lot of inspiration from people that just keep going. I’m trying to heal myself from thinking that everything needs to be perfect, because what is perfect?
It seems to be a very healing process. What do you hope people take away from your art? How do you balance how you feel about it versus the public perception of it?
That’s very interesting you say that because this piece [Missy Piggy], people thought I was talking about getting boosters. Not my intention. When I posted it — usually I never say the meaning of what I’m posting. I think art is about — like if you need to explain your art too much and it doesn’t move something in you, maybe it’s not that good or something. I’m just happy that people, even if they took something the other way, I’m just happy that someone felt something about it. I’m trying to make strong visuals, as strong as I can. I’m very intense, very emotional, very out there in your face so I just hope I keep going in that way where people react.
The pink is very vibrant and pops. How did you settle on that shade and why were you drawn to it?
To be honest, I wanted attention with this color. I wanted a little bit of tension. I like pink. I’m not wearing pink. I’m not like a pink character. I started to design it and I have a lot of variations. I have a file with maybe 40 different color ways and I love the color black so I had a lot of black variations. The pink just looks so nice with the black and also most of my pieces are black, white, and pink. It’s vibrant and I’m trying to highlight the subject of the piece with the pink.
I do eggshells also and I have a tag. I didn’t see a lot of pink stickers in the streets, I mean the eggshell rectangular ones, and I started with them. Then every time I went to the store, they were sold out. So now I see a lot of pink stickers around. I’m just trying to always have the same kind of ones.
Do you have a preference for tags versus drawing them or making them digitally?
It feels like I have two personas to be honest. I know it’s just a sticker but every time I go out and want to put stickers up, I always want the tag to be on me. That’s for sure. It’s like a little graffiti mind that I have that you want to be everywhere.
I know it’s just a sticker but every time I go out and want to put stickers up, I always want the tag to be on me. That’s for sure. It’s like a little graffiti mind that I have that you want to be everywhere.
As far as getting up, are you in all of the boroughs of New York?
Yeah. Trying to send as much as I can overseas or wherever I can. I have also the West Coast, the East Coast. Right now, I’m not really focusing on sending amounts of stickers too much. I’m really focusing on New York. But maybe this year will be the year of the travelers.
How would you describe the art scene and the street art scene in New York?
There’s two things. I feel like the art scene and the street art scene and like any scene these days, I feel like there’s real life and there’s social media because when we start, we don’t meet people that much yet. We don’t really know anyone. We’re just outside putting up stickers, putting up wheat paste, and just seeing who’s where. Trying to figure out how this person is. We don’t really know each other so much so it’s also a lot of Instagram persona. Overall, I love being in this scene. I feel like a lot of people are very nice in person as well, very supportive. I was lucky to meet amazing people.
How has it been being a woman in the art scene?
I don’t know a lot of women that are doing stickers. At least not street artists. Just like a few. Very few. People thought I was a man in the beginning because I didn’t post anything about my gender. I wasn’t really involved in events in the beginning so people assumed I’m a man. Even though everything is pink. Not that I’m saying it’s man or woman but some people were very sure I was a woman. I don’t feel any special way about it. I didn’t get any negativity too much.
Being a woman in the scene: yeah, that thing where everyone assumed that I’m a man. It didn’t even happen to me only. It happened to more female artists that I actually met in real life. I’m not saying that sometimes you think “Oh this may be a girl.” To be honest, this one time, I love this artist and I thought it’s a girl the entire time. And I met this person and it’s a man. I didn’t expect that but I understand. I feel like it’s automatically other people, I think especially men, will think it’s a man.
I’m glad I actually met a few women in the scene and all of them are just amazing and welcoming and smart and so supportive. There’s a lot of women putting stickers and wheat paste at night, risking themselves. And women doing graffiti — crazy big fills everywhere. There’s a lot of women going hard in everything, exactly like men if not more.
There’s a lot of women going hard in everything, exactly like men if not more.
Eye Sticker is taking an eyes wide open approach to the sticker scene and shows no signs of blinking and sleeping on her artistic goals.
