A man of all mediums

Words and images by Liam Stretch.

It's been a year since I last talked to Ōtautahi-based artist Jacob Root – also known as DistrangedDesign. He has come a long way since our first meeting several lockdowns ago. 

"In the last year, it's definitely gotten a whole lot busier," he says. A big part of any artist's life is the space in which they are able to create. When I talked to Jacob in 2020, he was producing works in a storage locker. Now, he has found a creative home in a studio-come-apartment in the Christchurch suburb of Waltham.

With pieces dotted around the studio half of the loft-like space, a plastic sheet separates the spray room from the design space – the spray room is kitted out with extractor fans. He also shares the flat with one of his best mates, Max Anderson, who is a barber and has his own shop within the apartment while running his publication Heads Held High.

On top of moving into a purpose-built space, the public uptake of Jacob's art has increased tenfold. His artistic identity can be seen throughout the city and country, with a growing number of murals decorating urbanscapes, interior house walls, art hotels, and his constantly expanding catalogue of original pieces in galleries and private collections.

As an artist, he uses stencils and paint to help tell a story and, over the last year, the inspiration for his art has developed, but certain themes remain at his creative core. "I just see what goes on around me because at 21, there's quite a lot. You get to see happiness, sadness, heartbreak, love. But also, Covid has given me inspiration.

"It's quite fun to put themes of places you can't go or want to go. Themes of times gone by."

Despite New Zealand giving him the freedom to pursue his passion, one such place Jacob is itching to get back to is where his artistic style is fed – Los Angeles. LA is where he was initially inspired to do the work he does, and he feels that once back, he'll be refreshed, and he aims to get there before the end of the year, all things going well.

"There's just something about that city. As soon as I get there, there is just something that makes you feel at home. It's just so full noise that it makes you want to work a whole lot harder and get a whole lot more done." 

The street art in the City of Angels got Jacob's blood pumping, and it has seen him maintain spray paint as his central tool. "I use roller paints in the background and brushes, brush strokes for texture, but spray paint is definitely my main bit, the fun bit."

Though having worked on various mediums, from saw blades to skateboards, Jacob is keen to get his hands on a car to spray. 

"I really want to paint a car. It would be really cool if it was like a slick black or white car with craziness on the front bonnet. Like a video I saw on Facebook of a car in GTA."

He just needs a willing participant. "I need someone who would actually let me paint their car," he laughs.

When asked what he wants people to take from his art, he mentions there are inner meanings based on his personal experiences, but he encourages the viewer to make their own connections, like for one of his works centred around the word 'missing piece' he says that could mean many things to different people – like a relationship gone wrong or someone you miss dearly.

"You don't want to make someone's mind up for them. I think that is the coolest thing about art that people can do what they want with it, like make their own minds up."