Defaced Studio, the working name of the UK-based artist Kane, makes illustration built around surreal world building, cartoonish characters, and otherworldly color palettes. His more recent work incorporates puppets, live bands, stage performances, and practical effects. He began in graphic design, producing branding for Call of Duty streamers before taking on freelance work for clients including Apple and Namco.
Starman, a 3D character released as Starman on MakersPlace in 2020, became the starting point for Starmaker, an evolving worldbuilding project that has since taken in game development, video, and puppetry. In 2021 he minted Defaced 'N' Friends, a set of 100 one-of-one character portraits developed between 2019 and 2021, on OpenSea. Gurt, a character first conceived in 2022 as a VHS store employee, grew into Gotta Get Gurt, a 2023 tiered trading-card series on Manifold reduced through a burn mechanic to 812 pieces, and later into a short-lived talk show and a live show in Lisbon. At “The Gateway” in Miami in December 2022, Defaced Studio built the installation Shiftie's Rentals, where visitors could look through prints, interact with a puppet of Gurt, and take a VHS tape.
