Elvis Di Fazio - Who is the man?

Elvis Di Fazio grew up in Raby, in the western suburbs of Sydney. He completed a diploma of fine arts (Majoring in silkscreen printing) at campbelltown TAFE. Di Fazio is part of a new generation of people who are not inhibited by the institutional hierarchies, boundaries and definitions that can often limit creative expression. Distinctions between art and fashion or shop and gallery are of little consequence. What matters to this growing group, who operate outside of the establishment, is conecting with people-having something to say, finding the most interesting way to say it and sharing it with others. Di Fazio has Exhibited in galleries including the Campbelltown City Arts Gallery, Blacktown Arts Gallery, Gladstone Regional Arts Gallery, The Sydney Opera House Gallery and the Mueseum Of Sydney were his screen prints were included in the recent "Italiani De Sydney" exhibition.

For Di Fazio, the idea of making art on T-shirts seemed natural and logical. He saw so many screen-printed t-shirts but so few that appealed to him. At the same time he paticipated in an exhibition in the city that drew a good crowd on the opening night but far too few people for the remainder of the show. He says, "I thought the best way to get it out there would be on a t-shirt....like a canvas on someone's body. the people who I am directing my art towards are never going to see it in a gallery; they go to shops were they buy fashion." The first designer clothing store he approached, Crazy Horse in Darlinghurst, not only agreed to stock the T-shirts but also invited him to design part of the interior of their new store. Another of Di Fazio stockists Hanksta in surry hills, has also been very supportive and has helped secure orders from several European retailers.

Most of Di Fazio's work is inspired by an obsession with the 1960's. This interest in the decade of free love and revolution (well before his birth) was driven by a strong personal reaction to the depressive blandness and angst he confronted in the 1990's. "It was a total overnight change for me, I ripped down my room, which was a collage of heavy metal posters, painted my walls lime green, laid down shag pile carpet and just thought yep, this is the way to go....i've never looked back." He has also obsobed the art history of the era and is currently influenced by American Pop artist Andy warhol, Claes oldenberge, Robert Indiana and Robert Rauchenberge.

When producing the T-shirts Di fazio ensures that each one is a variation on the last "Each T-Shirt is a direct expression of what I am feeling at the time, so it is an artpiece, not something mas-produced." He sources his imagery from original pulications and photographs from the 1960's and 70's. He even takes his own time period photos of friends ala 1960's 1970's portraighture. from these he developes finished designs, which are then exposed onto silkscreen. he does the printing from home and will often paint directly onto the printed shirts by hand.

Growing up in Sydney's western suburbs and having a strong sense of family with both Italian and South American backround, Di Fazio's sense of personal identity is strong in his work. Many of his t-shirts in the past have featured images from family photos and he always prints his name prominently on the back. "I like my name so much, it's woggy, it's different. I use it to my advantage. My cultural heritage feeds directly into my work."

Check out his Blog at ttp://e-difaz.spaces.live.com/