RIP Lee ‘Avers’ Matasi

By only

Thursday December 15, 2005

1981 – 2005

This sucks. My friend, and a friend to the Vancouver graffiti and skateboarding community, Lee Matasi aka Avers was senselessly murdered earlier this month. He was an immensely cheerful and positive person, and so passionate about art and skateboarding. He always had a goofy smile on his face and he laughed a lot. Condolences go out to his family, his sister, his girlfriend and all of you affected by his untimely passing. Fuck guns and the cowards who use them. Stop bringing guns to clubs. Stop killing people. It ain’t right. I’m not trying to depress anyone or ruin the holiday season, but things can end so suddenly and we forget how precious our time is.

Legendary Graffiti artist, Take 5 had this to say about Lee:
“I think we are meant to learn something from this tragic event. We lost one of our best friends. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Surely it is meant to signify something more than a lesson in loss and grief, for what is loss and grief if we can not transcend it? What kind of understanding can we come to through this hardship and suffering? The loss of an amazing person such as Lee leaves us with that reoccurring question “Why Lee?” Death may come to whomever it pleases, whenever it pleases, seeming random or chaotic, unjust, and arbitrary, however it is the experience of reflecting about the loss of life that gives death its meaning in our lives, which makes us wonder what life is about. If life can be taken away at any moment, we might want to think of how we could enrich every single moment with a deeper understanding of its delicacy. I think Lee will be a reminder to people to let go of what prevents us from flourishing into what we are truly meant to become. (Lee had no problem there, as he loved to paint, and that’s what he did so well, along with many other things). Let us look back on Lee’s life and his wonderful accomplishments, and hope to make our lives as rich as his, together in love and light…”