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FAMA speaks to Steve Lawler
aka Mojoko

CREATOR OF KULT MAGAZINE, GALLERY & STUDIO, EYEYAH MAGAZINE | SINGAPORE

Steve Lawler is the coolest dude you could ever hope to meet. Seriously, it's like meeting the love child of Austin Powers and Hunter S Thompson.     

It's a squelchy, steaming hot day in Singapore when we catch him at his Kult studio, but while the two of us are struggling to cope, Steve's as comfortable as a Komodo dragon in the desert.

He's just been to an antique store and is bursting with excitement as he shows us his finds: A couple of antique pots that he has grand plans for, some magazines from the 80s, and a bunch of other junk that most people wouldn't even look twice at, yet to him are priceless jewels to add to his collection.

Born in Iran, raised in Hong Kong and educated in Europe, Mr Lawler has a genuine love for every culture on earth. It's what enables him to create these complex collages that mash trash pop culture with the old and historical, in a range of media from computer programming to animation, drawing to printmaking.

The resulting imagery is unlike anything you've seen before. Not for the tame hearted, Steve's collages (some of them are as big as a house) are an unabashed assault on the senses. It's like he's crammed a thousand cultures and figures into each piece. He-Man shares real estate with oriental birds, and Sponge Bob and Patrick are thrown together with Chinese acrobats. 

Steve's also recently collaborated with a perfumery to release limited edition scents inspired by his manic imagery.

He does all this under the name, Mojoko, and has gained a worldwide reputation for his work, exhibiting at galleries all over the planet.

For most people, that would be quite enough. But not Super Steve.

Creator of the Kult Magazine, Gallery & Studio, Steve operates within a network of over 600 artists, designers and animators around the world, sourcing and curating their talents to release Kult magazines and exhibitions.

He's also just curated Singapore's first Gif exhibition, and has launched Eyeyah, a visual magazine for children.

We don't know how he finds the time to breathe.

He shows us around his workspace slash gallery, a sprawling expanse right in the heart of Singapore, with creaky staircases and passageways to get lost in.

He shows us the official Kult pet cemetery, strikes a few exclusive poses for us and even manages to mimic a goldfish.

We don't want it to end. But we've already been there for a few hours and the man's got some more people to meet. And we've got more food places to check out.

Thanks Steve. We don't know how you ever spent time in adland but thank heavens you're out. The world needs more people like you.