There are very rare times in our lives when we come across someone who is truly great at something. Be it throwing a football, solving impossible math equations, writing the greatest novel of our time or simply creating a magnificent piece of art that takes our breath away. These are the ones that are the true stars and should be in the spotlight. In an age where everyone is trying to stretch out that last 15^th minute of fame, wether it’s a reality show star or internet “celebrities” the truly masterful people are very rarely ever given their due props. Fortunately in this instance I can and will give someone the praise they deserve and have earned.

 I’ve been a member of the Giant Robot forums for over 7 years and in that time I’ve come across and met some truly good people. Some people I’ve merely had exchanges with on the forums and others I’ve had the pleasure of raising a glass and sharing food and drink with. One of the people whom I’ve yet to break bread with but have had the pleasure of getting to know long distance is board member Shandy Gazo, aka evillilgirl. More lovingly known as “ebil” on the forums, Shandy has always been the one board member who astounded me with her vast knowledge of anime and who over the years has showcased her amazing artistic talent. Hailing from Louisville, KY or “Louis-evil” as she refers to it, ebil has been putting in work creating custom art, 1offs and showcasing her works at various shows and exhibits. I got a chance to sit down and have a chat with Ms. Ebil and get a sneak peak of where her inspiration comes from, where she’s been and what’s on deck for her in 2010.

Hey!! So I’m glad we finally got this chance to sit down and talk. How are you?

A bit under the weather but it’s okay. Just what happens when you’re living in the Ohio Valley. Today our temp is 7 degrees!

Ouch! Sorry to hear that.

My own fault. On NYE I was doing Stoli shots and thought it wasn’t cold outside. I had my Russian hat on but it didn’t help my ears.

Yeah that’ll do it. Don’t worry this won’t take long. Now who is Ebil and what does she rep?

Well, I guess first and foremost I represent myself and my thoughts feelings intertwined with a deep love of surrealness and love of music. I’m very much into peoples or things in natures uniqueness that possibly others don’t see and that influences a lot of what I do i just try to keep it real, but found out my realness a lot of the time varied with others’ perceptions is different.  I love how art and music can open others minds

Deep, haha.

LOLZ!  First interview here plus I’m on sinus meds bare with me.

Will do. So give us a quick background rundown. Were you born and raised in Louisville?

I was born here in Louisville before the fam moved to Tampa when I was about 3 or so and lived there for about 7 years until finally moving back here. I have moved back and forth from here to Florida a couple more times. Last time I lived on the east coast around West Palm Beach/Wellington and would visit Miami off and on.

Right on. When did you catch the art bug?

Since I was 3.  My mums used to put me in a highchair with watercolors so she could cook dinner and I have never stopped since.

So your mom was what got you into art?

Yes! My mum is this really amazing artist herself so she influenced my creativity. When we lived in Tampa she would take me to the Dali museum and I would walk around there staring at paintings that seemed so ginormous to li’l me ^_^

Indeed. Who else do you list among your inspirations and favorite artists?

When I was young my first love was Van Gogh. His style was so crazy to me and I loved it as I grew older.  Of course Salvador Dali. From there Gieger, Masamune Shirow, Yoshitoshi Abe, Katsuya Terada and Junko Mizuno just to name a few. I love Mamoru Oshii too. His movies can keep me inspired for days.

Yeah I noticed the Shirow influences on one of my favorite pieces of yours, “Wired” I think it was. So how’d you start and what shows have you showcased your art in?

I started with my clothing brand Num Num, and debuted at Demf in a booth right next to Kevin Saunderson and did fairly well. I was in a graffiti invitational with Gallery Domingo (http://www.gallerydomingo.com) and I got 3^rd place. Evol got 1^st and Deaduluas 2^nd.  Then I started to paint more and show in galleries and participate in shows around the U.S.  I have had art shows with evol, Daedalus, Gallery Domingo, Mark Mothersbourgh, Devo Anti War Show, Daniel Johnston, HR Giger, Clive Barker and the Dirty Art Show last year. I’ve also had a show with Art Sanctuary which is a local artist group in Louisville. I do shows that Scott Scarboro also puts on. Now, I just sell to private collectors and just got signed to work on a comic book for a new company called Stumbling Lotus Press due out in May 2010. Still choosing the story I want to illustrate  so I’m reading scripts and all that. This will be my first publication for comics.

Nice. So comics are the new realm you’re entering?

Yeah. They said they would also pair me with a writer if I had my own characters with their own stories but for right now I want to get my comic book style down first and illustrate others’ stories. I do have stories but they are very much a works in progress. One day… ^_^

So you can pretty much say you’ve had an affinity for comics?

Totally!!  When I was 10 I was obsessed with X-Men comics. From there my first exposure to Manga and anime was Appleseed and Ninja Scroll. Then I started to try to get my hands on whatever anime I could find. Somewhere in-between  I got into graffiti when I started traveling through the underground scene when I was in my teens. Tribal and Wild Style were my favorites.

How’d you stumble across Giant Robot?

We had just moved back to KY in 2000 and my man found this awesome li’l magazine called Giant Robot and showed it to me. From there I got connected on the forums and have loved it ever since. A whole decade ago, wows!

Yeah, time flies. So I’ve seen your munchkins and they are adorable. Want to touch on your fam a bit and how motherhood has affected you creatively?

Tallying it up right now, the years counted are 13 together with the Mr ^_^ I finally gave in and we got married last year. We have done a lot of growing up together. He is a DJ and has DJ’d for the whole time as I draw and paint. As far as my kiddos, changed me? No, not really. They are a part of me if anything. I look at them as my greatest masterpieces I have made. Trying to figure out how to paint and be a good mom was a hard balance at first but I got there. They are into art and music as much as we are. Do they inspire me? Yes very much so everyday. I swear my 4 year old was the one spouting off which characters I should paint for my Kokeshi line I just did. Every couple of minutes she would run up to me painting and say “Mom you should make a Totoro or make No Face then make a Astroboy!” and thus the characters I did very much turned out on what she requested.

So what’s the art scene like in Louisville?

In the past, it was limited sometimes to lowbrow artists but has been currently arising out of art that just isn’t about chickens and horses. We have many urban artists here, a lot from Cali. One gallery that I would love to show in is the Tim Faulkner Gallery who has a nice mix of art styles. Also Derby City Expresso opens their doors to unique artists. I currently just participated in their deck the halls skateboard show. There is one group of local graff artists that put on the Clay Buffet. They clear out their pad and make it a gallery every first Friday. I had art there once. You really never know what you are going to find here. I am proud to be from here, it’s mos def a creative city and it’s embracing too. You go down to the highlands and almost every small business has lovely graf murals on their walls supporting the local artist.

Interesting. So any shows you’ll be participating in?

I will be doing a 3 day art show at Louisville Glassworks march 5-7^th.

(http://www.louisvilleglassworks.com/index.html )

Cool! Any final thoughts and links to where people can see and buy your art?

Sweet yes!!

Websites:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5397211

http://www.youtube.com/user/evillilgirl

http://ebilz.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/evillilgirl

http://twitter.com/evillilgirl

http://evillilgirl.tumblr.com/

As far as final thoughts, a quote that I love from Oscar Wilde right now: “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.” — Oscar Wilde ^_^

Nice. Once again, thanks for taking the time out to chat. Much love and luck this year from all of us at Flos Angeles, Ebil!  We can’t wait to work with you on some upcoming projects this year.