Okuda

We are super happy to present a fresh Interview with Madrid based, Multidisciplinary artist, Okuda. After his recent participation at the ARTRIUM project in Moscow along with some of the best artists, we caught up and got to know more about him. His work is described as Pop Surrealism ranging from multicolored geometric sculptures to large scale mural patterns. Find out about all the important and unimportant things that go through his mind, his inspirations, his travels and work methods! Enjoy the chat with the Mastermind called Okuda!

-What do you like to drink Okuda? Coffee, Tea, Beer, Soda or something else?

(Okuda) – I love Coca Cola, but I will have a glass of sparkling water with a piece of lemon! When I party I love Bloody Mary or a Spritz.

-Introduce yourself to us – as if we had no idea who you were!

– I am a very positive person that is happy because I’ve spent my life doing the best thing which is creating and travelling at the same time. Doing everything with my heart and that is why I keep growing up.

– Where does your Artist name come from?

– The name Okuda is coming from a video game from when I was a child.

Okuda – Free Love (Artrium, Moscow, Russia)

– How did it all start for you, and what is it nowadays?

– I started in 1996 in a small city in Santader with some friends. We had a crew called Young Junky because we started painting behind a hospital, an abandoned place where only junkies and all of us would go and we would go paint. I moved to Madrid in 2000 starting fine arts in the university and then started travelling in 2002 and now I am just focused on creation with a super big team of around 15 people that help me with everything. I keep focusing just on creation!

-What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

-When I wake up in the morning I put music, take a shower. Then I make a Spanish omelette with coffee and then start to work!

-Street art is mostly a visually stimulating form of art. To add one more sense to it, what music would you pick to accompany your art work?

– Always when I am painting or drawing i need to have music. I like different types of music, mostly electronic, hip hop, Latin music like the new reaggeton, Electro pop, African music, Brazilian music, Indie, Flamenco or Classical music. It depends on the day but I listen to all kinds of music.

-In all forms of art, inspiration is crucial. What inspires you and how does that end up in your art?

– My inspiration comes from the art history of my academic season and the ancestral cultures, such as African, Mexican, Japanese and Mayan.

-What is the hardest part while working on a piece of art?

– The hardest part I enjoy more is the first part when I take a long stick with a brush and I start to sketch, I take some pictures from Google just to draw different forms or something that i think the first time that I look at the wall. I enjoy this because its super free style but is the hardest part because you have to do the perfect lines and you have to do perfectly for the faster painting.

I dont know what is the hardest part, I like to start in the studio, 10 or 15 artworks at the same time. I enjoy this a lot, first I put the composition and then keep producing and after put details in all of them. The hardest part maybe is when we have to clean up perfectly !

-Do you have any artist(s) you admire? Can you pinpoint what it is that makes them so special for you?

-I admire Felipe Pantone, Sixe Paredes, Kris Kuksi, Eric Parker, Kristen Liu Wong, If you ask me for Music artists I admire Mia, Nicola Cruz, Editors, and Muse.

Rosh Okuda – Paco de Lucia in Madrid

-Which countries are the most inspiring for you as an artist?

-The most inspiring for me is India because the culture is amazing. I think Indian religions is close to my art because of the holy animals and the next could be Africa, I need to go back there

-What other passions do you have apart from art?

-My passion was travelling but now I have to travel to do my art. Those are still my two passions. Other passions is to bring my family to other countries to show them the world because they couldn’t do it by themselves. I spend time with my mom. The food is my passion too, I love all different kinds of food when travelling. Maybe the sea, last time i was Tahiti it was amazing how we enjoyed the sea, the beautiful colours and the nature!

-Do you have a special project that you hope to achieve some day?

– A special project I want to do one day is bring my sculptures to another level, mixed with architecture, make big animal heads to make a house or a bungalo that people can live inside. Thats the project I have in mind. Another is to do something with animation or cinema like to bring my icons and language to the screen.

-Tell us a bit more about your art; does it include symbolisms, messages or repeated patterns? How has it evolved?

-I try to express contradictions about the meaning of life, about Love, Freedom, Religions, Identity, in the end i try to put my own iconography in my own world. The final result is that people reflect on these concepts. Its not only about this one meaning, you have to see my artworks to understand to think about some different concepts.

– How long time does your art work, on walls, usually survive for?

– My artworks normally take from three to six days depending on the size of the wall. The usually survive for years because nobody can delete them due to their big scale.

-What are your creative plans for the future?

-I have a lot of plans. Like my collaboration with the brand Desigual and an electronic agency which I am very happy about because it is the first time i bring my sculptures and icons to the dance floor. I will do a big stage with a lot of sculptures and with one hundred actors it will be an incredible show that people can enjoy with my symbols and art. I also plan to make many murals around the World, but the best project will next year in San Francisco for the Golden Gate Park 150th Anniversary. More news soon!