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Tiago DeJerk began working with stencils about six years ago in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. At that time he was still performing major operations under his given name, Tiago Denczuk, and almost all of his art was produced for the lucky ladies who happened to be the objects of his fancy. In 2003, having relocated, (to use the term lightly), to San Francisco, Tiago was immediately exposed to a myriad of stencil art forms, including street graffiti. While attending the San Francisco Anarchist Book Fair, he stumbled across a table for StencilArchive.org, and through the connection was exposed to not just a city, but a world of D.I.Y. stencil art.
Five years, and a move to Portland, Oregon, later, Tiago has explored, honed, and perfected his own stylized interpretation of stencil art – an amalgamation of street style with classic tactic that he has used to paint walls, canvas, and found materials such as t-shirts, vinyl records, skateboard decks, cabinets, shelves, and doors. Utilizing stencil art for its accessibility and versatility, Tiago embraces the medium as the most “democratic” of any art form, as all that is required for its execution is a crude understanding of one basic idea – an idea that does not rely on possession of specialized tools or knowledge. In his own words, Tiago summarizes the appeal thusly:

“Since it's no more than a technique, co-opting (it) is not a possibility. If commercial enterprises try to imitate some style or aesthetic derived from what creative people are doing as only a form of expression, that's just as far as they can go, as imitators. Creativity and originality are the keys for genuine art, and having the goal of making something look good so you can sell it for more than it's worth makes it impossible for someone to recreate the real artistic creative inspiration, and therefore rendering the creation of pieces that are already obsolete an inevitability. Being afraid of having some style co-opted is believing, wrongly, that one’s artistic creativity is limited.”

Tiago’s environment is one that is in continual flux, and for the last decade his art has served to reflect those people, events, and ideas that have comprised it. The aliases under which he’s created his work have been almost as varied as the mediums that have inspired and guided him through the creative process. In most recent years he has performed as Pinga de Clown with the Alberta Street Clown House, danced with Here Comes a Big Black Cloud, and has dedicated the majority of his creative expression to mastering stencil artistry and developing the persona of Tiago DeJerk. This persona provides the mouth piece for unadulterated reflection upon the elements that shape us, and our world(s).
Throughout it all, Tiago has maintained devotion to one guiding principle: to Love, and Be Ridiculous! He invites you all to do the same!