The story does not begin with the familiar shallow narrative of someone claiming they have been drawing or painting since childhood. That story is kind of ordinary. Almost everyone has drawn once they were handed a pencil and a piece of paper — or even a wall at home. Perhaps that is how the phenomenon later labelled urban art came into being. At least this presupposes a place where access to such tools exists — unlike in many parts of the world like Somalia, Sudan or the Gaza Strip where often even a pencil is not a given.

What followed was not ambition, but confusion, irritation, depression, and, above all, speechlessness. This state demanded translation into another medium — one that could communicate through humor, reach further than a conversation between like-minded people in a café, a bar or a university I never attended, and carry more weight than a fridge-magnet slogan that is today often mistaken for progressive art.

Reflecting society or anticipating future conflicts was never a planned intention. I never aspired to be called an artist, nor to associate myself with those who primarily promote themselves, are worshipped by their audience, and construct identity through visibility. Art carries a far greater responsibility than decoration or entertainment — even though this is what society, media, and marketing industries have largely reduced it to.

Rather than producing objects that merely mirror the viewer in glossy frames with reflective acrylic glass — where the surface is often the only thing that reflects — I attempt to reflect society itself. To translate paint into pain, and pain into image.

Some may wonder why I choose to remain anonymous and stay in the background instead of placing myself at the center of what I do. The reason is simple: it is not who I am, but what I do that defines me.

In short, NoNAME could be anyone.
It could be any one of us. What is addressed here is not bound to gender, skin color, sexual orientation, or a political or ideological agenda. It operates on a different scale — one that reaches beyond individual identity. It is something way larger, something that influenced yesterday, created present, and what may influence tomorrow.