Sí Trends

True to her Big Apple style, Toofly, a native New Yorker with familial ties to Ecuador, strolls into a Midtown Manhattan office wearing door knocker earrings, fresh kicks, and a chill demeanor. The mainly self-taught graffiti artist is one of the leading ladies behind spray cans to date and has been entered into the coveted "Graffiti Hall of Fame," featured in various publications, and has created countless amounts of art, toys, and clothing. As she speaks of drawing, painting, and tagging she can't help but move her hands in intricate motions, slicing the air as if she's creating her next piece. Staying true to herself means a life dedicated to empowering women and enlightening the youth. Here, the petite artiste speaks to [Sí] Trends about how her mom helped her tag up, her painting skills, and why you need to get off the computer! Well, not right now, but eventually.

[Sí] Trends: Why graffiti?
Toofly: I went to high school for art and even though I was able to draw all the projects that my teachers gave me really well, it wasn't individualistic. When you're a teenager you are trying to find yourself so you think, "How do I separate myself from all the stuff that's going on." I would commute to school from Queens, where I'm from, and I would see all the graffiti tags on my way to school, and at school I would see a bunch of drawings on tables. Because of all that I started to see art in a different way, not just traditionally on paper. I saw a bunch of guys doing it and I was like, "There's no women doing what I could be doing," so I pushed myself harder to get into that world.

[Sí] Trends: Ever had run-ins with the cops?
Toofly: No, not like what other writers I know have gone through. I tried my best to go another route. It wasn't worth it to me to make my mom worry and put myself in situations that were dangerous. That's why I found ways in which I can make my art legal and public. I would go to places where I had permission because I couldn't get down with all that negative stuff, but I never got in trouble to the extent where I would be in jail or something like that.

[Sí] Trends: Where’s the craziest place you’ve put up your work?
Toofly: When I first started I was around 16 and my mom actually let me go out but she first had to meet the guys that were picking me up to go boming! After that, my mom took me out around the deserted areas in the neighborhood. She would drive me around in her little car and let me tag up. She was my look out. Once we snuck into this building across the street from my old high school and she was like "I can't believe I'm doing this!"

[Sí] Trends: What would you say to someone who doesn't consider graffiti "art?"
Toofly: That they just haven't done their homework [Laughs]. Right now graffiti is considered the biggest cultural arts movement in the entire world. It's huge, it's worldwide. There are even different time periods I feel like, there's "The subway era," "The street bombing era," "The mural graffiti piece era," "The street art era." Yeah, they have to do their homework.

[Sí] Trends: What projects are you involved in now?
Toofly: I'm producing a show called "The Crossover" with my partner Alice Mizrachi. A women's collective called "Younity." We're going to put together art exhibitions in gallery's, produce fashion shows, organize creative markets, rooftop films, and more. We want to be able to build a network of women in the arts and involve youth in the process. We feel we will help them gain valuable skills from working with professionals as well as inspire them to put together their own ideas.

[Sí] Trends: What are some words of wisdom you can share with people who are interested in being a graffiti artist?
Toofly: Do your research and then get off the computer! Go get a magazine or a book. Just get inspired by the stuff you see and then flip it; practice your own drawings, come out with your own style. It's all about your own style.