In fact, this interview may not be your only connection to California-based artist Steven Harrington. He may be your old grade school chum, spurned romantic encounter, passerbyer, loud neighbor, secret admirer, or arch nemesis. Maybe you’ve shared an ice cream cone with him or engage in fisticuffs with one another. Maybe you’ve accidentally stepped on his heel or gawked as he crossed the street. Maybe you have a collection of reggae 7-inches that could rival the crates in his house. Maybe you get caught up in 
daydreams about the same things that he does. Maybe he found that old book you were hunting down in the local thrift stores.

Maybe you’ve been exposed to his work at National Forest, the design firm he started with his friend and college classmate, Justin Krietemeyer. Since starting the company, the pair has done work for Nike, Urban Outfitters, ESPN, Burton, the New York Times, and countess other companies and publications that have crossed your path over the last six years. Maybe you’ve even applied for a job there.Or this could be your first introduction to Steven Harrington. Maybe you’ll fall in love with his work like I did when I first saw it. Then, you and I would be connected.

Connectivity plays a major role in Steven Harrington’s work. Each and every piece, object, line, color, and shape grows from a connection. Whether it be his cultural background sprouting through onto the paper or a character creeping out in the background, Steven Harrington portrays a sense of community and connectivity that runs deeper than what you may know. The drawn and designed collages he creates rise out a process that takes his jumbled thoughts and ideas from a sketchbook to the screen
printer, each one further pushing his belief that we are all connected. The ideas that he explores travel the path of his history and each piece taken along the way.

If this is your first introduction to Steven Harrington, be wary that one of his main interests is creating a new-world cult that revolves around this idea of connectivity. If that scares you, it’s too late. You can find a common ground between his thoughts, ideas, and massive body of work because, yes, you are connected.