Clovershrooms’ art ranges from slapping stickers on public bus stop signs to spray painting political messages on walls. Her most notable street art creations include vibrant psychedelic mushrooms. Her hair is often equally vibrant when dyes it purple or lavender. She started immersing herself in street art culture in high school. The main medium for getting her work out in the streets is stickers. She paints them and then she pastes them all over Los Angeles.
MY IMMEDIATE REACTION ABOUT WHAT YOU DO IS GRAFFITI ART, BUT HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND WHAT YOU DO?
“I think I’m an artist. I’d say I’m writing out a message that I want to tell people.”
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE BEHIND YOUR ART?
“The message is self empowerment and love. Clovershrooms is a thought that grows like a fungus. I recently got in STH, S2H. It was introduced to me as “Straight To Heaven”, or “Straight To Hell”. It’s cool. No tagger gang. It’s strictly for the arte. I write “Saving The Hood” which coincidentally fits almost perfectly with my message. I really want to make that a movement, slowly but surely. I also write ‘Sick Twisted Hyna’ on a more personal note.”
Clovershrooms does handmade stickers. She doesn’t respect people who print out their stickers from a computer program and put them out on the street.
“Some people have them made. I like painting them. You didn’t do that, that’s not you.”
WHAT IS YOUR ARTISTIC STYLE?
“It depends on how you’re feeling.”
She said she painted some mushrooms yesterday.
“They looked blue and horrible. Just miserable.”
WHAT ARE SOME ISSUES THAT COME UP BEING A FEMALE STREET ARTIST?
Clovershrooms touches on the various experiences where she’s had to dodge boys’ attempts to go on dates or have sex with her. She said that boys in graffiti tend to trivialize female street artists’ creative growth and capability. She recaps an encounter she had with a local graffiti artist who thought her friend who painted just wanted to have sex with other graffiti artists.
“‘Does someone help her? Are you sure? Are you sure she just doesn’t wanna fuck?’
I was like what the fuck?! Homie what the fuck?”
There are guys that will be like, ‘Hey want to hang out? We should blackbook.’
It’s like, ‘No, I don’t really know you.’
But they insist.
‘You should come over to my pad and see what happens.’
He told me we were going to do a sticker trade, so i gave him my number.
I didn’t know him. I just knew he was from UPN.
He ended up texting me, ‘I’m really attracted to you.’”
The same guy had texted Hers in a previous occasion with the same intentions.
“‘Are you down to fuck?’
He was like, ‘Oh that wasn’t meant for you.’
‘Lets exchange fuckfaces. Oh my bad I was really drunk that wasn’t meant for you.’
That happens a lot. There’s always going to be guys that even if they really like what you do, they’ll still try to fuck.
I dont know what it is.
What? Girls that paint just want to fuck? No.
My friend is like, ‘What have you been doing?’ and they’re like, ‘Thats really good. I can help you.’
If a guy writes they’ll be like, ‘Oh he writes,’ but if a girl is not that good, guys will be like, ‘Oh do you need help?’ Especially if she’s starting.
WHEN DID YOU START GETTING INVOLVED IN STREET ART?
When I was in middle school, I used to catch tags. When i was in high school I went out there.
I would hit up before I went to shows because I never really had anyone to go with.
That’s why I don’t go as often.”
Clovershrooms that the challenging part about being a graffiti writer in South Central is that she doesn’t know many other people who do graffiti. Her friends will sometimes accompany her, but she says it’s not the same thing as going with another graffiti artist. She said her friends will sometimes go with her just to give her company, but she feels bad because they are not really into that scene.
“It’s something you just do, not something that someone tells you to do.
I’m doing it and its going to stay up there. It’s not like a thought that you keep to yourself, someone else is going to see it.
It’s going to make someone’s day. It’s going to get someone distracted. It’s going to make them think something different.
It’s good to see people you know. It’s like a secret club. Not everyone knows, but everyone can see it.
I want to do more sign painting. I want to make t-shirts. I want to go bombing, illegal bombing, but I also want to do legals. I need to get a car first.
I do want to make something big and make sure it stays there.
I’ve really, really been wanting to paint Zapata out there in the hood. I met this guy who said, ‘I don’t know anything about my culture. I don’t know who Zapata is.’
I’m like damn, people don’t really know who he is or anything.”
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD TO SEE POLITICAL MESSAGES?
“People in the the hood should know because they have the right to. They have the right to know where they stand. We are nican tlaca. Not everyone listens, so the need to write is for our photographic memory. You know, not everything is in the books they have in schools and the youth aren’t in school either. So the way I see it is, ‘decorate the streets, educate your peeps.’
Urban Vandals is what I use to rep when I was younger. Back then, it was more about the rush of vandalizing property. Slowly, I started incorporating political awareness and stenciling quotes for people to see: the young, the elderly, blue collar workers, white collar workers, tourists. I’m a peace advocate. My plan is to leave a thought, a book, an article, a painting, a mural, a scribe, a video, a recording, a piece in whatever form I can. It doesn’t really matter as long as the message is there. I know damn well a revolution doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve been strong since 1810. I may not carry a rifle and bullets across my chest, but like comandanta Ramona I’m on the same fucking quest.
I continue always in the struggle for la gente, El pueblo. In the past two years, I’ve kept my distance from organizing, but I will forever stay active with what I paint and leave behind when I leave this body of mine. I combined what I love: art, culture, and the struggle, and I’m going to leave it on the streets, tunnels, sewers, trees, wherever I can so it can be seen by many minds.”
almendra 