Stick Vega
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Stick Vega
Explosions. Art. Words.
by STICK VEGA
The more gunpowder I use, the less there is for killing.
LESS KILLING! is not a conventional art book—it’s a working document of an artist thinking in public. Part photographic archive, part explosion diary, and part manifesto, the book captures Stick Vega’s unusual practice of using gunpowder not to destroy, but to create. The images are immediate and physical: smoke suspended mid-air, charred textures blooming across paper, figures emerging from combustion as if discovered rather than designed.
What makes the book compelling is its voice. Vega writes plainly and directly about walking away from corporate success, building The Blast Factory, and chasing the fleeting instant when an explosion becomes art. The result feels honest rather than curated—closer to a studio notebook than a retrospective.
At its core, LESS KILLING! is driven by a simple but striking idea: that materials associated with violence can be reclaimed for beauty. That tension gives the book its energy. It reads less like an argument and more like a lived experiment.
The effect is unexpectedly hopeful. Vega’s explosions are not spectacles of destruction—they are attempts to transform chaos into meaning, one ignition at a time.
“LESS KILLING is immediate, personal, and unexpectedly hopeful!”
HDV - Madison, WI
Author. Artist. Investor.
Stick Vega was born and raised in the heart of Wisconsin’s Driftless Region in Viroqua, where the land’s history, folklore, and contradictions continue to shape his work. He is the author of the art novel Less Killing and has written several award-winning screenplays. In addition to writing, Vega is a nationally recognized visual artist known for his explosive paintings created using gunpowder and fuse. His work has been collected throughout the United States and reflects the same tension, risk, and controlled chaos that define his storytelling. He lives in Monona, Wisconsin, with his wife Renee and their Shetland Sheepdog, Archie “Buck” Vig.
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