Kris Andrew Small’s world is inhabited by brilliant hues, bold type and an unwavering sense of curiosity. The once-designer, now-artist has spent years refining his vision – collaborating with many landmark cultural institutions and major brands along the way. Now, the Surrey Hills local is bringing a first to The Galeries – a huge, immersive sculptural installation that will take over our atrium from late-September.

We caught up with the multidisciplinary artist to chat about his work and the upcoming installation at The Galeries.

Can you tell me a little about your background?

I studied graphic design when I was fresh out of school. I worked around Europe for seven-ish years, and then I moved back to Sydney. I was a designer at the Opera House for a little while. I worked at an agency for a bit. Then, I decided I was done and I wanted to be an artist. So, I quit advertising.

I had my first show in Sydney, in 2019, in a basement in Redfern and then started getting jobs almost immediately, which shocked me. Now, I work heavily as a commercial artist, so I work a lot doing different collaborations. I do a lot of video installations, and I paint as well. I try not to let the medium limit my work. I want to be able to make whatever work I want, then the medium follows.

Is there an aesthetic through-line with some of those advertising techniques in your work?

100 percent. In advertising, you often have the question of how someone at the other end is going to actually receive this information, and how will that be accessible to them?

A useful skill as an artist is to be aware of the person at the end, as opposed to just thinking about what I want to say with the work. Someone at the end has to relate to it; otherwise, it means nothing. There is a lot of collaborating with designers and art directors. Now, when I work with brands, it’s the same thing but the roles are flipped around. I say I’m on the artist’s end of a graphic designer, and the graphic design end of an artist.

That puts you in an aesthetic lineage of a lot of very well-known, very accomplished artists. Do you find inspiration in those figures?

I’ve always been drawn to artists more on the commercial-art side than the fine-art side. I was very inspired by artists like Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Murakami and Kasama. They were living in this really commercial, accessible world. It’s not alienating to most people.

Anyone can go to a show by any of those artists and feel they can relate to it.

That’s really important. I always think that my mum should be able to understand it, my seven-year-old nephew should understand it, and a bunch of nerdy artists should understand it. People think that’s easy, but that’s the hardest thing to achieve as an artist. It’s such a skill.

Those artists are similar in the way they build up worlds. Do you see yourself trying to accomplish something in that space as well?

Big shoes to fill. But yeah, that’s definitely the goal. With projects like this, it’s essentially world-building. You are using an existing space, bringing your work into it and figuring out how that’s going to exist within it.

You’ve travelled a lot. What made you return to Sydney?

It is technically my hometown. I was born here, but I grew up in Brisbane. I lived in big cities, and I loved it. But I think Sydney’s a good middle ground.

I feel like Sydney’s having somewhat of a revival, especially in a creative sense.

I moved to London because I just thought that’s what you did. Now, people are staying more and making it work here. That’s cool, and I’m excited to be a part of that.

Can you talk us through your installation?

The installation at The Galeries is essentially an inflatable sculpture suspended from the atrium. It’s a large typographical piece, made up of sculptural letters that say ‘FUTURE’.

I’m always thinking about the future or my place in the world. I think when we talk about the future, it’s almost in a collective way. And it can feel intimidating. But I can have my own reality within that and can focus on that. That’s a bit easier to digest, understand and have some ownership over.

Do you have a connection with The Galeries?

I’m there all the time. I love Kinoukinya, I love Muji. But it’ll be hard to ever go back there again and not see it as a place to suspend things.

Experience Kris Andrew Small at The Galeries from 30 September to 27 October.