This Thursday’s Community Breakfast took a vibrant turn with Mikkel in the spotlight—graffiti artist, scuba diver, and multilingual adventurer. If you think tagging is all rebellious scribbles, Mikkel’s world is a masterclass in turning spray cans into storytelling tools.
Mikkel collaborates with with Fond Of and a Danish backpack chain, offering custom graffiti art for kids. Each backpack becomes a canvas, personalized with names, characters, or symbols. “I have 15 minutes with each child,” Mikkel explains, describing how he preps every surface with primer and uses Japanese pens for vibrant finishes.
It’s a joyful interaction, but also a precise craft—knowing how recycled materials react to paint, and making sure each piece pops with outlines and “power lines.”
Graffiti as Passion, Profession, and Play
Graffiti, for Mikkel, is more than aesthetics—it’s expression, territory, and sometimes, transformation. He educates curious onlookers on the difference between a tag, a throw-up, and a full graffiti piece. And while he’s long stepped back from the illegal scene, he doesn’t shy away from his roots: “I’m a happy sellout,” he jokes, “I get to paint and pay rent.”
Beyond legal commissions, Mikkel also experiments with a passion project: “Resurrected Art.” He finds old paintings and reimagines them with graffiti, then hangs them anonymously around Copenhagen, waiting to be discovered—a scavenger hunt of sorts.
More Than Just Spray Paint
Mikkel’s life story doesn’t stop at paint. He’s fluent in several languages, has lived in Asia as a dive instructor, and even played bass and guitar with well-known Danish acts. Music, like graffiti, is another way he brings energy and emotion into the world.
If you need help with paint, a record, or just a good story—Mikkel’s your guy. Just don’t expect him to stop creating. As he says, “I need a little art every day. It’s like a fix.”