Artist Spotlight:
@kane.ism
If you’ve seen the inside of our downtown Burlington location, you’ve been lucky enough to see the magic of “Kaneism”; one of Toronto’s most talented graffiti artists–Kane. Since the late 80’s, Kane has been painting the streets with graffiti, with inspiration stemming from hip-hop music videos, to TV shows like Welcome Back Cotter, and to movies like Style Wars (circa 1984). As a teenager he was one of Toronto’s “Original 6” graffiti artists. He joined crews such as TCM and HSA, which went on to dominate the Toronto scene.
Kane has over 32 years of graffiti experience. He is best known for his traditional lettering, striking colour palettes and abstract executions. Kane has been commissioned to do several large-scale pieces in and out of Toronto that have left many people in awe with the detail and intricacies that manifest within his work. He has also taken it upon himself to mentor other young artists in the community, to express their creativity the way he was able to when he first started this career.
Like many artists, Kane uses cannabis to help inspire his work. His journey with cannabis started in high-school.
“I do remember laughing my ass off a lot,”
Kane said about his first time consuming cannabis.
“This was the early 90’s and what we were able to get at that time was classic Thai Stick, and classic Jamaican Cess. There was a lot of Mexican leafy outdoors that wasn’t very good, super harsh, so we stayed away from that.” –Kane
For those who haven’t been long-term consumers, this is a pretty key insight to how much has changed since legalization; a surplus of options now available at the click of a finger. This allows artists to dig a little deeper and curate strains that work well with them for particular activities.
In his personal experience, he doesn’t have a favourite strain, but does prefer one that has a more “uplifting and energizing effect” before he paints.
“I find I function better on Sativas as opposed to Indicas, but even still, a lot of cannabis is just much too strong for me nowadays. I’ve smoked an immense amount in my life and have found my tolerance has plummeted down over the years as THC content has gone way up. I also find my brain chemistry doesn’t do very well with low CBD content.”–Kane.
When he’s not creating spectacular art, you can find Kane working as a computer coder, website builder and designer. Despite a full time career, his passion lies constantly on working on new pieces.
“I also have a few murals in the works and you can usually find me creating something under a bridge somewhere or hanging out along train lines, and generally just writing my name on things that don’t belong to me.” –Kane.
You can find more of Kane’s pieces on his instagram @kane.ism. You’ll also be able to see him live in action August 16th-20th, 2021 just outside of 2017 Lakeshore Road, Burlington (Back of the building; John Street Parking lot).
This graffiti mural will be showcased and celebrated with BUDSSMOKE and the Burlington community on August 21, 2021.
Author : Chloe Fox @puffpuffplant_
Editor: Corwin Nicasio
@kane.ism | @budssmokestores | www.budssmoke.com | (905) 637-BUDS (2837)
