Mulga is a Sydney-based artist whose work has been described as “an untrammeled use of colour…made up of textured shapes and intricate line work that transcendently floats with emotion.” Mulga, whose real name is Joel Moore, stumbled into being an artist – originally in financial planning, he’d doodle on post-it notes instead of working, sketching funky characters that he’d post on a blog as a diversion.
Soon enough, he began developing a style that combined intricate line work, textured shapes, and bold colors. One look at his work and you’ll find a world where tropical bearded men run rampant, tigers wear sunglasses, and lions smoke tobacco pipes.
While Mulga is influenced by graffiti artists such as Nychos, Fintan Magee, and Alexis Diaz, most of the time he prefers to hand draw his creations with simple Posca paint markers. When he’s not in his studio working on a commission, he’s out painting murals or painting live at events. And a Mulga trademark? No matter how big the piece, he always writes a little poem to go along with it because, as he cheerfully states on his website, he “reckons it’s a neato way to make people smile.”
Since his first art show in 2012, Mulga has exhibited at over 40 shows, won first place at both the 2013 Illustrator Awards and Art on Paper: Hazelhurst Award Awards 2013, and recently had a pop up shop at Westfield Mall in Miranda, Australia, which highlighted his eponymous clothing label. He also just completed a children's coloring book, suitably entitled, Mulga's Magical Colouring Book.
You can follow Mulga the Artist on Instagram @mulgatheartist and see his work at mulgatheartist.com.au.
