To the grille, Oddly Spliced!

To read this interview in spanish, click here.

Leigh Whurr, best known as Oddly Spliced, is a young male from United Kingdom. His drawing style is the surrealistic and contorted forms as if they were clay or water. Even though his work isn’t purely scary, they are really taken from the deepest bottoms of the dreams, which may be scarier because it forces us to deal with our subconscious, muahaha. His draws are as beautiful as we let them be part of ourselves, and that is the reason they have been used a lot of times for other artists to inspire their works or to use them as frontpages, screensavers, or even to talk about them in videoblogs of YouTube.

 

Asura: Thank you for your time. It’s really an honor to have such a great artist with us. Could you please share with us your beginnings? Any influence?

Oddly: As a child, I had a passion for drawing.  Even as early as nursery, my art was noted to be beyond the typical standard for my age.  I would immerse myself for hours, often to the exclusion of everything (and everyone) around me.  Being an avid reader, I was drawn to sci-fi/fantasy illustrations, which fuelled my imagination.

 

A: What’s the inspiration or your muse to create your work?

O: Boredom with reality I would say.  Particularly regarding my specific circumstances.  Being an introvert and a deep thinker, I often find myself unstimulated by the mundanity of daily routine.  So I zone out and daydream.  I often feel as though I am carrying another world around with me in my head and it seems a shame not to share it.  Music can be very inspiring.  Movies and videogames of course are a major influence.  Dreams and nightmares that I've had play a large role too.  I will sometimes wake up and note down something interesting.  This sparked my interest in psychology, particularly regarding the subconscious.

A: Could you share with us your creative process, from the birth of the idea, through the creation, to finally when you say “it’s finished”?

O: What I imagine is not always easy to translate into words.  It's all very abstract.  I might consider a certain thought or an emotion (either my own or someone else's) and then think how best to represent it visually.

I have a preference for digital painting as it allows for the freedom and versatility required to experiment, without the smelly and messy inconvenience of traditional mediums which can be very off-putting and time consuming.  I start off with something very vague and gradually refine the detail until I feel that I've captured whatever I had in my mind. 

A: It is really difficult to find something about you in internet, could you share with us if you studied professional art or if it’s all by your own?

O: I am currently studying Fine Art at university.  However, my personal work is mostly a solitary pursuit.  I'm self-taught.  I like working to my own beat and figuring things out for myself.

A: How is the situation of the art in United Kingdom? Do the people like it and support the artist or do they just ignore them? How do you feel about this situation?

O: There are plenty of exhibitions to be seen, both historical and contemporary.  I do fear talented artists may be overlooked in the shadow of a competitive environment.  Funding for the arts, in general, has recently suffered government cuts, which is a bit disheartening.

A: In the art, the message that the people receive may not the same that the artist wants to share. Do you have a message or something special that you want to share to the world, and that nobody has seen yet?

O: I am open to multiple interpretations.  Hopefully the viewer is able to draw something positive from it.  Sometimes I like to be deliberately vague or ambiguous so that the viewer is included in the process.  I want to provoke thought rather than simply delivering a specific message.  In some cases, I welcome alternate interpretations as it is important that viewers have a personal investment in the piece.  With art there is often this view that one must be somehow 'cultured' or possess a pre-determined knowledge in order to 'get' what they are looking at.  I, on the other hand, feel that the art should speak for itself on a more universal level.

A: Any artist or person that you admire or look up to?

O: Zdzislaw Beksinski and H.R Giger are always worth mentioning when it comes to this type of art.  Their unique visions are truly inspiring.

A: Why Oddly Spliced?

O: I wanted something silly yet appropriate to my style.  My thinking being that whatever I am or whatever I create is the result of two separate realities juxtaposed to form something...odd. 

A: It’s hard to me quote the works that I like, because they are too many to tell, but do you have any favorite work?

O: I don't have a favourite specifically.  They all belong together, in a sense, as part of another world.  Each piece is merely a window.

A: Do you give any meaning to your works? I mean, when you are drawing, you may think, “mmhh… let’s this limb be longer because it’s as if the creature wants to escape”; or simply, “mmhh.. let’s this limb be longer because it’s cool”

O: A lot of it is very symbolic.  I imagine what would happen if the physical form was to result directly from an emotion, as if it has 'evolved' from that particular feeling.  A manifestation.  Like in a dream.  The process, as it occurs in my imagination, is very difficult to put into words.  It just happens. 

A: If you give any meaning to your works, could you share what they mean to you?

O: They are a means of expressing what I find otherwise inexpressible in words.  It's like having a language of my own.

A: Do you make art in other forms? Which?

O: I currently only focus on digital painting.  However, I would love to expand into other mediums in future.  Maybe film or 3D.

A: Where do the people can contact you, and in which languages?

O: My Deviantart page is the best place to contact me.  I will share any future contact info on there.  Only in English.

A: Any final message to the readers?

O: Thank you to all who those who show interest.  I am developing my skills all the time and the continued support of the community is hugely rewarding for me.