Born and raised in the dying steel mill town of Youngstown, Ohio, Greg Shirilla was encouraged at a very young age to "get the fuck out." This advice was heeded, but not before the surrounding environment of rust, decay, depression, and alcoholism could sink it's teeth into his psyche and form an aesthetic that would work it's way into his art to this day.

It was the city's "anti-culture" that would help shape Greg's interest in art. A steady diet of comic books, heavy metal album covers, muscle cars, and crudely scrawled grafitti were the initial visual stimuli that would cause the boy to start drawing himself. This would later be pushed further with the addition of skateboard graphics, lowbrow comics, hardcore album covers, and probably most importantly, the new wave of comic artists who arrived on the scene in the late 80's and early 90's –– people like Bill Sienkiewicz, Kent Williams, Dave McKean, etc.

A 5 year stint in art school added an appreciation for museum level artwork –– something that was sorely missing from Shirilla's background. However, this never distinguished his love of his prior influences. On the contrary, it only strengthened them. Helped him understand why something like an Iron Maiden cover can carry so much visual power. Why an illegally spray painted phrase on a wall for all of the public to read can have so much impact.

Shirilla has since been working to find the connections between the "lowbrow" and the "highbrow" worlds. Trying to blur the wall that separates the two. Not tear it down, just blur it. Without the resistance and rebellion of both worlds, everything will obviously get a little stale and boring.