“SHE SLAPS!” featured artist: Yarn Vandalette (Germany)

Please provide a brief description of your work.

I am a crochet girl – crochet queen some people say! – with an heavy addiction to street art. I was fascinated by graffiti since the mid-eighties. I kind of grew up on old school Hip-hop and graffiti was huge part of it. But I was never brave enough to go out with the cans myself (what a shame, I still regret it ?), I rather kept on dancing and admiring the art.

When I relearned crochet a couple of years ago ( I haven´t done it in about 30 years) I started making jewelry, but when I saw some pictures of people putting up crochet pieces in the streets, I knew this is what I would like to do. To be able so send some stuff to other people I shrunk the pieces to stickers. So the Vandal Girl sticker, which is my alter ego, was born. It is my trademark, so to say ?

Does being a female artist, or identifying as a female artist, influence your work, and if so, how?

Yeah, I would say It does influence my work. Crochet is always associated with girls and some people regard it as old fashioned. Besides being a female in a still male dominated street art world, I like to come up with ‘not so cute’ pieces in crochet. Female isn´t always pink and crochet isn´t always doilies or amigurumi. I like to make ‘outsider art’ inspired pieces best. Just thinking outside the box.

What’s the best thing about being a female artist in the sticker world?

I love best the community in the female sticker world. You walk into a exhibition and right away start chatting with other sticker girls (of all ages!!!). You start trading. Everyone I met so far, was friendly, outspoken and very welcoming.  Like one big family.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Hmmmh… Let me think …. JUST THIS: Keep on having fun, girls, and let´s stick together!

Special thanks to Oliver Baudach, Hatch Kingdom, Berlin, Germany, for his work to organize the SHE SLAPS! Street Art Stickers by Women Artists from Around the World traveling exhibition.