Friday ProFile: Imminent Disaster

In the late 1800s, the Victorian Era represented a long period of prosperity and the rise of the middle class. With rapid industrialization, urban areas swelled and slum areas developed. Imminent Disaster’s linoleum prints ironically represent a prosperous period against the backdrop of our own era’s economic difficulties. Posted up in the back alleys of Brooklyn, these ruffled beauties contrast sharply with the ragged walls they decorate.

Imminent Disaster began her wheatpasting missions back in 2006 with a series culture jamming local chain storefronts. Since then, she’s roamed the country and the world leaving a trail of wheatpastes in her wake. “I've put up my stuff all over,” she says, “but unfortunately the stuff that gets the most hype has to be in a big city with a graff/street art scene. I hitchhiked across the country and put stuff up in Georgia, rural Illinois, South Florida, and Staten Island. I took wheatpastes with me to Peru and Chile. Those moments off the beaten path are probably the most important and the least recorded.”
While she enjoys the vibe of group efforts, most of Imminent Disaster's projects are completed solo. "Real collaborations are hard to come by," she admits. "I love organizing mural painting projects, but that's collective energy more so than collaboration. Most of my real work is done on my own terms."
Working off-canvas has its own share of environmental and occupational risks. "There's a quarry in upstate New York with several semi-submerged buildings," she recalls. "I tore a ligament in a my knee jumping off a cliff, then hobbled over to one of the buildings to paint until the sun went down. I would go back over to finish that piece any day." Law enforcement also makes her work difficult. However, a little quick thinking can get her out of an jam. "Once the cops rolled up, and I convinced them I was supposed to be there," she laughs. "I showed them the piece, and they sat and watched for 15 minutes or so while I put it up."

“Refuge,” her joint show with Armsrock, opens at Thinkspace in LA on March 12. While the road was long, Imminent Disaster finally feels like she's arrived on the scene. "I'm synthesizing everything I am inspired by into my own voice," she insists. "It's taken a while to go from copying and appropriation to real transformation, but I think I'm finally there."

Thanks so much! For more wheatpaste documentation, take a look at her Flickr. That's all for now! If you're in the CT area and are free on Saturday night, there's going to be a cool show at The Warehouse: Teeth Mountain, D. Gookin, and some other cats that I'm going to listen to this week. Should be good stuff! Perhaps I'll see you there...