Meet Odin Blackgrove | Chaos abstract artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Odin Blackgrove and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Odin, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
To me, art is not so exclusively the physical act of crafting as much as it is the perceptual act of valuing. Seeing meaning in the meaninglessness is what makes art. I always loved that madness of subjectivity. That irreplaceable weight of sentiment has had a firm grasp on me for a long time.
When I started tattooing, my unique style came somewhat intuitively with my personal philosophy. I called it ‘chaos abstract’ as a showing of appreciation for that divine madness. I wanted to celebrate the value of nothingness, and with it also celebrate how “grace fills empty spaces “. My tattoo style seeks to find a spiritual connection to this void.
I am not looking to stick some random image on flesh like people are walking galleries. I want the art I put on someone to be a reminder of the art that human being already is. I want it to reflect the striking marvel that is existence.
I cannot imagine a more fulfilling method of offering that to others.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Art culture in recent years has been attempting to sterilize itself to stay mass palatable. People need to be force fed what someone else might deem as ‘skilled’ art to find some placebo effect of inspiration in it. We have substituted genuine creativity with a commodified tunnel vision on realism.
As an artist, the last thing I’d ever want to achieve is reality. My art is different because it doesn’t wish to achieve realism, but also doesn’t exist purely to spite it.

There are many challenges I have faced with founding this tattoo style. It has been treated as unprofessional because of other artist’s personal aesthetics. Many have tried to even attack my character, suggesting I was sadistic and my style reminded them of self mutilation. The fact is that art doesn’t ever need everyone to agree on it for it to be art. Beauty is In the eye of the beholder and their elitism can’t stop that. Despite those people’s biases I have been spreading my art more and more as time goes on. If anything, their petty controversies have only helped my art get discussed further.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When it comes to LA, there’s few places more freak-friendly than Venice beach. I always love grabbing a beer at the Venice ail house and just people watching with a friend. Outdoors food vendors will always be integral to LA culture for me and Pete’s meats will always be high on that list. The academy museum is worth the ticket price for anyone who loves learning about great films, and seeing the costumes usually has a pretty novel effect on visitors. The Baldwin hills scenic overlook in Culver City is one of my favorite places to sit and look at the mass expanse that is the city of Los Angeles. Few things are quite so lovely as that view from the top of the stairs.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t think I would be nearly as far along in my own artistic journey without the support of my dear friend, Gunny. He is a kind hearted human being and a brilliant artist. He is the most clear and direct influence in my current career, by far.
When it comes to my philosophy in art, I likely have Simone Weil and Emil Cioran to thank. Their books gave me a lot of love for that void to be filled with grace.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/witch_doctors?igsh=dzdwYnZ5a3dsYmR6&utm_source=qr

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@witch_doctors?lang=en&is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=mobile&sender_web_id=7418384376680105504

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me