The hiss of an air compressor permeates the air and the smell of paint saturates your nose. A crowd gathers around a man using an airbrush to create art on the back of a leather jacket. He looks up, revealing his green face and long, pointy nose and ears. The crowd’s initial confusion turns to awe, and unconventionality becomes the standard.
Alter egos are popular among artists and singers like Banksy and David Bowie. Lisp Goblin is a visual street artist who uses makeup and prosthetics to hide his true identity. He describes himself as a cybernetic goblin. Lisp specializes in using airbrush techniques to upcycle vintage clothes, workwear, and other garments to create rare works of art that he calls “Midwest Grotesque.”
“Street art, graffiti was a big inspiration in lowbrow art, anything that’s like folk art–comic books or cereal boxes–self-taught art was super inspiring to me,” Lisp Goblin said.
Lisp grew up in the Midwest near Appalachia. He took his first art class during his sophomore year of high school. He felt he was good at making his drawings and paintings realistic but developed his art style in community college. Lisp eventually dropped out as he decided it was not for him, but while he was there he used an abandoned gym to realize himself as Lisp Goblin.
“I had this huge gymnasium to myself, really old, I bought a bunch of Walmart paint and just painted for hours instead of going to class,” Lisp said.
Lisp set his mind to doing art no matter the struggles. He wanted to create a persona that would make people remember him, he wanted a unique tag. Lisp was motivated by Reno, a graffiti artist in Columbus. Some of the letters in Lisp are a part of his initials, but it is also a play on words.
“Lisp was kind of poking fun at it, because I’m writing the word lisp, but without a lisp,” Lisp said.
Lisp had been drawing a lot of goblins, so he decided to add the word “Goblin” to his name and began dressing like one. This created his unique outward appearance that captivates the eye.
“[Goblins are] confident for no reason,” Lisp said. “It doesn’t ask for permission. It’s grimy and gross. It’s a little unsettling, so it felt like a good balance of all the things I found interesting.”
Another thing Lisp was interested in was fashion. When vintage and preloved clothing became more popular, he combined his love for art and fashion to create his wearable works. He talks of creating a storyline with other unique characters using his art and translating that into fashion.
“I love fashion,” Lisp said. “I [would] love to make like crazy fashion pieces with designers.”
Lisp has a big following and fan base. One of his followers is senior Sage Kennedy. She first him through his fashion at a sustainable fashion expo.
“I think he is very original and I really like his style,” Kennedy said. “He is very talented with his designs and I think in the future his designs will be modeled and worn by people all over.”
His future is bright. Lisp eventually wants to go into high fashion and work with sports athletes.
“I would love to do a crazy, full Japanese denim outfit for someone that does back flips on a dirt bike and do a helmet with a goblin,” Lisp said. “Maybe people jumping out of airplanes, maybe people snowboarding,”
Right now, he paints on paper and uses wheat paste to stick them to buildings, as well as sticker bombing to make his brand visible. He also does live paintings and customizes jackets, pants, hats and anything else he can get his hands on. He has a lot of growing to do, but Lisp has the drive to make it big.
“I made a decision when I was in junior or senior year of high school that was, I’m gonna do art whatever it takes,” Lisp said.
