Born on the streets of São Paulo and now known around the world, the twin artists OSGEMEOS have built a universe where reality, memory, and imagination melt together into a singular realm they call Tritrez. Their hands move in such perfect sync that their work feels like the output of one consciousness, extending across murals, drawings, animation, and even music as they continue expanding their world. They grew up during the rise of hip-hop, in conversation with the streets, absorbing and shaping the culture. What do they see as the origin of their creative force?

The twins’ creative process and the sense of being “One Entity”

──When you create together, do you divide roles in any way?

As twins, we’re pretty much the same entity. We have the same style, so you can’t tell who painted what. I know what he’s about to draw, and he instantly knows what I’m drawing. It might sound strange, but that’s really how it is. It’s not that we synced up over time; it’s been that way from the start. We grew up seeing the same world, breathing the same air, and sharing the same dreams.

──Tell us about your background. What were you like as kids?

We were born and raised in São Paulo, and we were always drawing together. In the 80s, hip-hop culture exploded throughout the city. Breakdancing, rap, DJing… everything was happening around us. We started breaking too, but the moment we saw older kids spray-painting walls, we were totally captivated. The simple fact that “you can paint on a wall” blew our minds. We didn’t know anything about graffiti culture or its history yet. But at the B-boy hangout in São Bento station, people from other areas taught us what they knew, and slowly we understood the bigger picture of painting on walls. That was around 1985,1986.

──Is that when you seriously began painting on walls?

When we saw Subway Art, it clicked: “This is exactly what we want to do.” Then we watched the movies Beat Street and Breakin’ and realized graffiti was a full culture. We immediately started painting walls, and local writers taught us everything about tagging and graffiti basics. Once we stepped into that world, there was no way back. As kids we did everything: breaking, DJing, rapping, graffiti… hip-hop was our entire life.

──How well-known was American-style graffiti in Brazil at the time?

There were people using spray paint in the older generation, but not in lettering styles. It was more like freehand drawing or large roller pieces, similar to Haring or Basquiat. And we often saw political phrases painted around the city. The crew “Tupinãodá” were pioneers. They showed that painting on walls had real potential. But it wasn’t linked to hip-hop yet.

──When you first started painting outside, did you encounter any difficulties?

Brazil in the early 80s was still under the shadow of dictatorship. Graffiti was heavily punished. Painting secretly at night was normal, and the police did whatever they wanted. It was dangerous, but also incredibly thrilling. The city almost felt like it was telling us to paint. We painted to speak with the streets. Because of that, we learned the city’s structure, its borders, how to move safely. Eventually we realized there was no specific law banning graffiti. It was a tiny loophole, but enough. We stopped hiding at night and started painting openly in the city center on Sunday afternoons. Other writers followed, and São Paulo developed its own tradition of Sunday street painting. Our goal was to show people that graffiti could be something positive for the city. Painting during the day made that easier to communicate. For places like trains we still had to paint at night, but daytime painting in public areas gradually became accepted.

Tritrez and the origins of their characters

──Your characters and worldbuilding feel very dreamlike. How did they emerge?

The characters feel like they were born with us. To explain it, we have to go back to memories from before birth. We remember a kind of dream-filled place. Our characters come from there. The wind, the sun, the colors, the movements of that world… we’ve carried those images since childhood, as if a movie of that place plays in our minds. We kept searching for the right style to express it, and gradually the answers took shape as we drew. We’ve always shared this strange sensation, like we both accessed the same vision. In the early 90s, we started writing a book, almost like a diary, to explore our roots and record the mythology of Tritrez. It was as if the “history” behind our drawings suddenly became visible. Childhood memories and new experiences constantly connected to it. Since those memories never run out, we’ve had no choice but to keep creating this story.

──How did your characters become what they are today?

We grew alongside them, and now they’re part of us. When we depict Tritrez, memories of childhood sensations return: the smell of the rain, wind, the landscapes, how the characters move, how their clothes sway… it all appears naturally. To find the perfect style, we experimented for years across many methods. We went through around 15 different styles before reaching the one we use today. Even the journey to the yellow characters was long. We believe deeply in these characters. Their clothing, environments, spirituality, posture, relationships… everything carries meaning. They’re tools for our imagination to converse with reality.

──So Tritrez and the real world are linked?

Tritrez has vibrant characters, stunning places, overwhelming nature, beautiful trees… a completely different magical world. It may look separate from reality, but that’s because it’s created entirely from imagination. For us, though, it’s everyday life. We live there, we come from there, and we feel naturally that we’ll return there when our lives end.

──You’ve created massive murals. Are there any you particularly remember?

The murals from the 90s are unforgettable. We spent about a month painting one piece filled with waterfalls and landscapes directly connected to Tritrez. Or rather, we were trying to get closer to Tritrez by painting it for long hours every day. Those works were truly special. Our first encounter with large-scale murals was in Germany, seeing the works of DAIM and LOOMIT. They were pioneers of full-facade murals. Later, around 2002, when we were invited to paint in Greece, we decided not to paint any background and left the raw concrete visible, placing only a giant character. That became the first major character-focused mural. The lack of background intensified the character’s presence. We never use projectors. Everything is done freehand. It sharpens our technique, and difficulty is what helps us grow.

──Tritrez’s style includes distinctive, thin, textured spray lines. You’re pioneers of that technique.

We’d always drawn with thin lines, so naturally we wondered whether we could do the same in graffiti. When we discovered Futura 2000’s work and the TCA crew from Paris, we realized thin lines, circles, and abstract forms were possible with spray paint. But in Brazil back then, there were no graffiti shops or cap choices. Spray cans were cheap automotive cans with terrible quality. So our thin, rough outlines weren’t created by special tools; they came from our fingers. By pressing the nozzle only slightly, controlling the paint at the brink of sputtering, we learned to produce delicate lines. Since we had no cap options, we learned to make thin lines with any cap. We even took different caps from supermarket products to test them. Growing up in the 80s and 90s with almost no proper materials actually helped develope and shape our style. We had to improvise, invent, and survive through creativity.