Putting a face to the name

Words by Liam Stretch. Images by Java Katzur.

In an unassuming storage locker in the Christchurch suburb of St Albans, you’ll find the colourful studio of Jacob Root aka Distrangeddesign. The 20-year-old is quickly making a name for himself – through his art in the medium of spray paint.  

At his age, he finds inspiration from those moments in life that everyone is going through; he takes these transition moments and reflects them through his unique pieces. “Everything around me inspires my art. I’m at an age where a lot of people around me are coming of age, so there is a lot of happiness, sadness, heartbreak, love – kinda everything that goes through life.”

As part of the journeys people take in life, Jacob sees it of paramount importance to highlight mental health in his work too, his art is a metaphor of his own experiences, and he wants people to know that they are not alone. “I show dullness around the outside with white breaking through – just to show the theme of light through the darkness; that there is going to be a brighter time. That’s kinda my main message; you’ve got this, I guess. I try to tie in a lot of mental health into it.”

Most of Jacob’s work, including murals, are portraits. Having started out painting famous people such as rappers, he now focuses on unknown subjects. He does this for several reasons. “I used to paint them a lot [famous people], but now I paint a lot more unknown women. With the famous icons, everybody has got an opinion on it – someone could hate ASAP Rocky, and they won’t take the time to look at the real message. Painting unknown figures helps get the message across.”

Jacob uses a number of techniques to achieve the finished result. These include stencilling, layering, and freehand spraying and brushing.

Having started on green electricity boxes around his local suburb – you know the ones – he has since progressed to having his own studio space, and he has been commissioned for several murals around town – including his most recent one of Audrey Hepburn.

Adding to the Christchurch streetscape, he found his first mural a little intimidating, but he has since taken it in his stride. “At first, it [painting a mural] was quite daunting because if you screw up, everybody can see. But once you get over that, you don’t even realise you’re painting in the street. The last couple I’ve done, I’ve really enjoyed.”

An aspect of mural painting that has always confused oneself is the logistics of translating an image onto what is often a multi-storey building. Jacob sheds some light on this. “On photoshop, I mark up the walls. I’ll download the walls onto a Photoshop document and split it into segments, work it metre by metre by metre. [I make it into] a grid, basically, and then you can just free hand in the lines and go from there.” 

It wasn’t a traditional start in the art world for Jacob. He didn’t study it at high school or at university; he ended up stumbling upon his passion on vacation to the United States. “I went on a family holiday in 2017 to Los Angeles and saw the street art there, I thought, ‘shit that’s pretty cool’, I might have a go at that when I get home.”

After a couple of years honing his craft, the attention on his work gained traction. He was invited to the well-known Can’t Do Tomorrow Festival in Melbourne, which features some of the world’s best urban artists in February. Also, work he did of one of his idols -- Heath Ledger -- was picked up by the departed actor’s father.

“That was insane. It was probably a year after I started painting and was a major push for making me do what I wanted to do – knowing that people were actually interested, let alone a famous person’s father.”

These were both proof to Jacob that he had what it takes.

Creativity is Jacob’s lifeblood – and he is stoked that he has discovered what his outlet is. He encourages others to find theirs. “I find creativity – being able to express yourself – really important; a lot of people bottle things up, and that doesn’t really get you anywhere. So, expressing yourself in a way that you love and enjoy is a blessing, it’s really cool. So [I] definitely urge people to find something that they love and strive for it.

He was also very thankful for his art in the nationwide lockdown. “I was pretty fortunate that my studio was a two-minute walk from my house.” He spent the time practising his murals on the walls of his studio. 

For now, Jacob is working towards a solo exhibition at The 013 Gallery on Victoria Street on from 6 November through to 6 December but hopes when the world gets back to normal, he can head to his personal epicentre of street art, Los Angeles. “I really hope I’ll be living in Los Angeles in the next few years. That has become a city that amazes me; gets my creativity flowing. There’s a whole lot of opportunity there and people doing a lot of the same thing.”

If you’re interested in Jacobs work, you can find him on Instagram, or head along to his exhibition next month. He has pieces available for purchase now, and he takes commissions.