Pen & Paper: Mark Goss

While many artisans have employed macabre symbols in suggestive, yet often chilling elements to their work, Mark Goss - or Mass to his affiliates - embraces the recognizable human skull silhouette as a trademark stamp, blending it with an accolade of dynamic illustrations and bright color choices. London-born Goss spent his formative years immersed in street art, before channeling his interests onto graphic design and other forms of art expression like sculpting with wood, cardboard and metal. These materials would later host loyal backdrops to Goss’s installations.

Having conducted numerous exhibitions and projects in London, Antwerp and Japan – including work for TOPMAN, Imperium Snowboards and London Fashion Week – Goss moved to Hong Kong where he currently resides as a designer for streetwear label CLOT. His illustrations incorporate a myriad of travel influences, as local cultures and surroundings provide both cues and canvases for his bulging ideas. Aptly using strong formative lines to his advantage, the heavy brushed borders in his art – whether its typography, graffiti, or portrait illustration and tattoo art - accentuate each piece with assertive charisma. While his website shows the multidisciplinary approach he applies across platforms, Goss opens his sketchbook to share some stripped-back, monochromatic goodness he holds close. Enjoy!