We’ve been looking for an excuse to speak to the talented Mr McAttee for a little while now. Fortunately for us he’s a very busy man so we haven’t had to wait long, read our interview after the jump.

You can catch his work on show currently as part of the Stolen Space gallery group show.

Hi Andrew, thanks for speaking to UK Street Art.

For us, your work can provide an enjoyable escape from reality, swiftly transporting us into a parallel, almost make-believe world of optimism and colour. Is this feeling of escapism something that you experience while actually creating the works? 

Thank you. My thought process whilst creating my work is to catapult the viewer into a world of optimism. For me, all art is a form of escapism.

As mentioned, the optimistic theme of your work is something that has been constant for a long time now, are you a very positive guy, or is your work an outlet to get all the good vibes out so that you can get back to being miserable again? Or neither?!

I don’t think I’m either sickeningly optimistic or miserable. I just want to focus on creating a celebration of life. Or simply focusing on the glass being half full rather than half empty.

It’s clear to see that you’ve taken influences from areas like comic books, pop art and graffiti, can you tell us a little more about your past with these influences and what role they have played in your life.

There are two huge influences on my work and they pull together to help me produce the finished pieces (graffiti and Art school). I was the kid with the sketch book and from there I dropped into graffiti as a teenager. Then I went to art school from 1989 to 1995 – I use my experiences and skills from both to complete my work.

So, you’re showing at Stolen Space as part of their summer group show. Can you tell us a little more about your connection to the gallery and the work you have submitted for their show?

I’ve worked with Stolenspace since 2006 and have a great relationship with the gallery. The two pieces I have submitted for the show present two extremes of my work. “Sulphur” is a circular fiery piece heavily influenced by Japanese comic novels (Akira, Manga). Whilst “Too Fly” is influenced from traditional American pop art (Lichtenstein) with a graffiti twist.

Thanks Andrew, hope to speak to you again soon, all the best.

• Tags: Andrew McAttee, Forster, Interview, Stolen Space