On a regular basis we’ll ask a new sticker artist a series of 10 questions. To keep things simple and to engage in a deeply philosophical, long term case study of the scientifically complicated “Sticker Artist’s mind,” we’ve decided to leave the questions the same every week.
10 Questions with Sticker Artist Amin Al-Jamal
We have known Amin for many years and throughout that time, his relentless creative drive has never ceased to amaze us. Ardent Xeno Art, as he is better known online, spans many creative mediums from sculpting to illustration, dungeon mastering to poster design and of course, his character design on custom stickers are always epic.
Amin is also an acting Entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and is currently in the process of earning a master’s degree in Arachnology.
Did we mention that he’s only 25 years old?
Nothing we tell you in this little intro will prepare you for the scope of Amin’s unparalleled creativity, so we’ll just let him speak for himself…
We sat down with Amin and asked him 10 questions. Let’s get to it.
1. what makes a good sticker design?
Because of their (generally) small size, I like to see bold, bright colors and easily recognizable expressive features- faces, mouthes, eyeballs, and skulls. There’s something in the ancient reptilian brain about seeing an eye that demands you look back and check it out.
2. what do you do with stickers anyways?
Great question- there’s always the “travelers mark” approach, which I do relish- many of my creatures dwell on sign-posts, gas-station doors, and in the corners of venue-bathroom mirrors.
I’ve also got a lot on my car, and I’ve put one or two (or 5) on every sketchbook, thermos and water bottle I’ve ever had.
Placing a sticker feels very much like you are casting some sort of art enchantment- suddenly, a mundane object or unexciting location is injected with intention, history and character- they connect artists by proxy because people will say “oh man, that’s a cool sticker on your water bottle- where did ya get it?”and the grapevine does the rest…
Oh.. Great Snallygaster, adorn my water bottle.
“Placing a sticker feels very much like you are casting some sort of art enchantment- suddenly, a mundane object or unexciting location is injected with intention, history and character…”
3. if you could hand one of your stickers to any one person, who would it be?
Stu and Hieronymus would appreciate the sticker, Amin.
A few die-cut silkscreen sticker classics by Amin
4. silkscreen or digital?
I am neither a heretic nor a fool… Silkscreen. If you’re going to make a piece of art the literal purpose of which is to stick to random stuff, it better be high quality, hardy and at least somewhat weatherproof.
Hand made sculptures deserve hand made stickers.
Amin with one of his hand crafted masterpieces.
5. streaming or vinyl?
Hipsters will be furious, but it’s streaming for me. I know, I know, the audio quality is higher on vinyl (90% of the time I can’t tell I’ll be honest…) and pretty much all major streaming services are nefarious tech giants with miserable practices, but you asked for the truth and I’m no liar.
The main reason I love using streaming is that I am a sort of deranged librarian type who adores endlessly nested folders and precisely calibrated playlists, and I make fun little album covers for my favorites. That sort of thing is made way easier on streaming (as compared to say, making a mixtape)- you need that fluid instant ability to start crafting a playlist when the urge strikes you.
All that being said, I wanna make a couple things clear- firstly, I DO BELIEVE IN BUYING PHYSICAL MEDIA OF SMALL AND INDEPENDENT ARTISTS– they need the support, and a CD or record is a fun memento of the experience of going to a cool little gig. Additionally, I absolutely 100% do own most of my favorite records on Vinyl- as a collector-type (I am an entomologist after all), I love that feeling of sniffing out favorite records- It’s a great way to support little record stores and accrue a “Greatest of all time” type collection.
I keep 4 favorite records up on my wall at a time and cycle them every now and then- right now it’s Mezzanine (Massive Attack), Polygondwanaland (KGLW), Holy Mountain (Sleep), and Aenima (TOOL).
Amin’s band. Nekron99. Visions of The Trapdoor Man. Stream It.
6. what is the last book you read?
I just finished rereading one of my favorite Leguin books- The Dispossessed. It’s a really incredible sci-fi story about a brilliant scientist from an anarchist colony on the moon Urus of the Planet Onarus who is invited back to his people’s capitalist/communist homeworld by some stuffy professor types after they learn he is on the cusp of developing a theory of faster-than-light communication. The Urosti have been anarchists for many generations, and have strict cultural taboos against property and coercion, so the story is this amazing stranger-in-a-strange-land narrative about the scientist being variously delighted and disgusted at the “propertarian” society of the Onaresti, all while various political forces on the planet vye for the favor of the anarchist genius, eager to extract his great discovery from him. It’s immensely deep, timeless, and politically poignant.
When asked which sticker medium Amin prefers, he quickly replies: “I am neither a heretic nor a fool… Silkscreen.”
7. tell me 3 artists you like
Good phrasing- if you had said “your 3 favorites” I would have said “impossible”- I’ll stick to smaller independent student artists who I know personally so whoever reads this can discover the glory they have to offer-
One of my dearest friends, and a really amazing concept artist/worldbuilder. He’s got an incredible graphic eye, and a brilliant mastery of light and color. I had the pleasure of doing volume 1 of his comic book series Temple of Rot (He did volume 2)
I know this person only through instagram, and I do not know their name or much about them, but their work is jaw-dropping. Masterful, hyper-intricate pen-work that reminds me a bit of if Arthur Rackham crashed into an old-school Warhammer book. Lots of wonderful big worldbuilding panels rich with labels and text in a natural-history-book style.
Monstark is an old friend and a brilliant dabbler in all sorts of slimy illustrations, paintings, sculptures, and puppetry films. He’s done so much stuff at this point that his instagram is a long and epic adventure- and one that I highly recommend.
8. tell me 3 websites or apps you like
As a biologist- I gotta say Inaturalist – it’s flawed (lots of incorrect or contentious IDs on there), but it’s pretty amazing that there’s just a field guide for all known animals and plants that is pretty accurate at least for North America. It’s an incredible resource if your trying to find out “what bug that is”
I’m on a histology (study of tissues) kick right now for finding art textures to incorporate digitally into graphic work- there’s an awesome repository here at the Michigan Histology
Another science one – Macroinvertebrates.org – its just so wonderful- beautiful for aquatic insect ID or creature design inspiration.
9. what would you like 1000 of?
Oh boy- hard to say. Lets say 1000 extra days to make Art – like after every sunday for 3 years there is just a liminal “Artday” where I wake up in a swirling green vortex with all my art supplies and get to make creatures for 24 hours straight- then I wake up monday morning and all the stuff I made on Artday has spawned in on my desk.
10. what are you working on now / what’s next for you?
Well I’ve just released an album with my friend Nick Brown under our band Nekron 99 – we have a plenty of fun live shows on the way- I’m doing tons of odds and ends for that- shirts, did stickers with you guys, posters- I cast a ton of silicone squids to throw into the crowd- it’s been wonderful and I’m sure it will continue to be- our friends that join is in the live band are excellent musicians and playing with them is always a blast.
I’ve also started production for this year’s Dickens fair where I play the part of a goblin hunter named Professor Prospero- all the creatures I sculpt for that are explicitly fairies and goblins, many inspired by actual folkloric descriptions. I have several designs I’m hoping to do for local bands, and the next album is already brewing (oh, and I also need to finish up my masters degree in arachnology!).
Further down the line (late this year I think) I’ll be embarking on a huge worldbuilding project making a sort of weekly field-guide entry for one of my main universes- you can also expect an endless parade of stickers and creature sculptures- that’s all I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting!
Amin Amin.. A Creative Machine… What else is he up to?
Recently, along with some fellow creative minds, Amin has formed a new project, a band titled Nekron 99. Their energetic debut album release party at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma on Saturday, April 27th was an incredible event, bustling with the creative energy we would expect from Amin. Fellow Sticker Robot alumni were in attendance, Skinner, Zoltron, Alan Forbes, Revolution 9 joined by Bay Area bands Petra, The Strange, and Moms with Bangs.
Thanks Amin! If you want to keep up to date with Amin’s work, you can follow his art account Ardent Xeno and new band Nekron 99 on Instagram. Various collectable creatures and superb stickers are available for purchase on his Creature Caravan as well. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment below, artists respond to enthusiasm.