Old Unky Sän’s passed on, too young at 28.
Keep working the greater good, brother ;_;
We love you. We miss you.
whistling ninjakitty
an artist, two little boys and a home by the sea
Old Unky Sän’s passed on, too young at 28.
Keep working the greater good, brother ;_;
We love you. We miss you.
One of the first street peices I saw of Jai’s was the Market Man (as I like to refer to him).
The Market Man hangs out on the north side of the Adelaide Central Markets, just behind the Asian Grocery.
The lettuce is sketchy, it would seem. Buyer beware.
Jai left a squiggle on our pantry dry erase board.
We need tealights.
eds – I will keep adding to this as I can. He left a few drawings in our scrapbook, + I know he has a few more peices around town that should be captured for posterity.
This was the best we could do for a memorial while our hearts and minds were reeling from the shock of losing someone so very special so suddenly; but there’s much, much more to say. Now that Jai’s death is becoming a little more real there’s a few things I’d like to mention. He wanted to be famous, so here’s to a little bit of fame on this corner of the internet.
One thing about Jai you will find everyone agrees on is that he was crazy. Usually (I think) it takes an artist several decades to work up to that level of eccentricity, but Jai managed it from the day I met him when he was 17 (and desperately in love with my little sister). Over the last 10 years or so his outlook developed from a joyous non-sequitur appreciation of life, to fully fledged crazy man antics. Often crazy people are a bit freaky to those of us still pretending that there is some semblance of order in human existance, and sometimes Jai did make you feel like either he or you had fallen off the deep end; but it wasn’t scary – it was more of a “holy shit, I didn’t know I could fly!” feeling.
The man was very litterally bursting with enthusiasm for anything and anyone creative. Of course, he had his own somewhat anti-establishment views on how to approach creativity, but the result was always productive and positive.
Possibly my most favourite thing about Jai Kinson was that he steadfastly refused to make judgements about people based what you looked like on the outside, or what others may have said about you. Everyone was interesting to him. I found it overwhelming to see just how many people he had connected with. It’s true – you couldn’t walk through town with Jai without a million people stopping to say hi along the way – from the legendary street artists all the way through to that guy who sleeps in a doorway downtown. Everyone’s face would light up when they saw Jai coming their way. Well, maybe not the bouncers who had removed him from pubs for providing his own beer, but you know what I mean. Jai was always on the lookout for anyone with a heart of gold. All the folks I’ve talked to since Jai’s death have echoed the same sentiment – we were all looking forward to spending more time with him, doing more with him.
That’s all I have to say right this minute.
Such terrible news… why do the few people worth existing on this planet have to go. I only knew Jai briefly, but as with most people who met him something about him stuck with me. He gave me great inspirtation and advice about my art, took the time to draw in my sketchbook as we bonded over being antisocial! I’m so saddened, the world somehow seems a more boring place now he’s gone. My thoughts are with you guys and all who knew him well.. I cant imagine the loss you must feel.
Sending international love to you both in this horrible time. Miss you guys,
Luci XXX
I found this while backing up a grip of images.
I went over to Jai’s house one time with Aurelia + Delana to listen to some hiphop + talk shop. He’d just scored a titanium lappy + had like a bazillion gigs of pics from canvases + locations he’d done (or scouted, there where quite a few shots of “prime landscape” taken from the city trainline 😀 ). Anyway, I knew this, so I had brought along my lappy + basically stole his harddrive while he put on records he wanted us to listen to.
At some point we needed more room on our HD + I baleeted a ton of photos, including everything I’d taken from Jai, except, apparently, this picture.
*sigh*
*kicks self one last time for good measure*
;_;
Sitting here and trying to hold on to every precious memory I have of this great man whom I have known most of my life and all of his, for he is my brother.I know a different man to the street artist and “crazy” funny guy,but let me tell you I knew and loved both sides.Jai was a highly advanced spirit, a sensitive and loving person who loved spending many nights dancing and laughing with his family,or goofing around with India and Finn (his neice and nephew) He taught them to view the world with an artists eye, and at 2 and 4 they are able to point out his unique artwork around Adelaide .He taught me about eternal love and tolerence and appreciation for all mankind.I know Jai is still with us because I still see and talk to him often and feel his presence close by.As all who knew and ever met him will agree – he was beyond this world,a great master with extrordinary vision.But to me he was my little bro,and the pain in my heart will never leave.Jai,I love you and thank you for the 28 years we had in this lifetime.I go on without you, a better and more open person.Until we meet again…..
I have fond memories of Jai. We studied animation together at Hamilton in 2000. He was the first person I spoke to there, you know when nobody knows anybody and no one wants to speak first, Jai was person who broke the ice and got everybody talking. He had soap shoes, those shoes u can slide around on. I remember his enthusiasm, his wild imagination, one thing you could be sure of was that you could never be sure of what Jai was going to do or say next. So many ideas and stories that just tumbled forth like a hose on full blast he he! I remember his ‘ashtray salvage’ poster, the unique characters he drew and his great sense of colour and design. I didn’t keep in touch with Jai after that year but I have thought of him often, he’s the kind of person that you never forget. Oh, and a friend of mine who went to Unley high with him told me a Jai story many years ago, which I have retold to many people over the years, as I’m a story teller. I call it Jai and the bees. Moral of the story kids, don’t throw rocks at bee hives it makes them mad, really MAD! he he
We are getting a lot of hits for people looking for the ‘ashtray salvage’ site being run by Jai’s family. If you’re looking to keep up to date with the latest on the upcoming Sän exhibition, this is what you’re looking for: http://www.ashtraysalvage.blogspot.com/
See you at SASO on the 21st of November 2007 😀
Well my son i keep coming back to look at your friends comments , and i still chat to you every day since you sudden departure and im still missing your cheeky grin when you use to visit me and also when you use to take me on a tour of your street art, i know your friends still miss you as does your family , as it gets close to your birthday it gets harder ,i know you know how i feel son , and i regret not telling you more often how much i loved you , and miss you , so to all those great friends and family thanks for every thing you have done to keep his memory alive in our hearts , sans dad
He is still missed.
Stills freezes my heart in shock.
Time never seems to really heal, I feel we just become numb.
So here is a warm hug sent you way.
And old friend – from far away
Thinking of you, bro.
Always in our heart … x
I heard about Jai’s death some time ago from a mutual acquaintance but didn’t believe it. I worked with his mother for some years and had lost contact. I often wondered if it was indeed true but hoped that boy was just mistaken. Tonight I don’t know why but I couldn’t seem to get my mind off it so I tried to find any information. Unfortunately it is true and Jai has gone. I knew him at high school and he was so sweet. Such a memorable person. I’m so deeply sorry that he has passed away and for the people close to him that miss his great presence.
It’s coming up 10years since we lost our loving crazy son,brother, unky and dear friend .We ,as his family would love to catch up with any of his friends to share stories and love . Hope to see you at the Edinburgh hotel Mitcham at 4pm onwards on Sat. 19th Nov Much love from his Mum xxx
Jai just jumped into my thoughts out of the blue the other day, he will be forever remembered. I studied animation with him in 2000. It was really nice to see there are still pieces of his work online.