SALT LAKE CITY – Beyond a few courses taken at a local community college, Matt “Chew” Odle is a Salt Lake City native who has grown from graffiti artist into a professional muralist. The fruits of his self-trained visual artistry can be seen all over the Salt Lake valley, and beyond. “Experience is what taught me,” Odle said. “A lot of big, hands-on stuff.” Always an avid sketcher, Odle’s early graffiti at 15 years-old eventually found its way to larger spaces.
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Did you start in large or small-sized format?
Growing up I did average small stuff, and lots of sketching in pencil, Odle said. Because graffiti is so big, I started doing big stuff at 15. I ran with a prolific crew whose work was up all over the city from 1991 to 1996. That’s when we were the most active. Back then, BRISK who’s now a DJ at U-92 was one of my main bombing partners.
How did you transition from underground graffiti to public murals?
We were always trying to get walls of our own to represent our style of art and culture, and from there we’d meet other painters which led to more things to paint. I’ve also done lots of live painting at venues like the Utah Arts Festival and the Urban Arts Festival. This led to lots of word-of-mouth jobs in my niche, people were looking for murals, which is big stuff.
How has the evolution of better spray bottles improved your ability to deliver realism?
I think you can use anything. I still use dollar-cans from Walmart sometimes. But there are lots of really cool new things like thinner spray caps which allow different techniques, and today’s higher-grade paints are just better to work with. What I’m most excited about are water-based paints. I like them because after using fumy paint for so long, it’s really nice because it’s not nearly as toxic. That’s what I prefer now. It’s not really how good the paint is, it’s that you don’t die when you paint with it. I’ve been using that for the last two or three years, and it’s been better for interior jobs. I recently painted a church nursery, and had I used real spray paint my customers would have had to close down and all kinds of stuff. Water-based paints actually smell sweet.
Do water-based paints last as long?
Water-based paints don’t last as long as the hard core, Montana paints, which can last for about ten years and won’t even fade.
How would you describe your style?
Today, in this five minutes I’d say my style comes from a portrait background, but I’m basically a retired graffiti artist, so I like abstract lettering with a little psychedelic twist. I love to paint big. Bigger is always better. In general, I think all work is better in the morning because morning energy is the best time to create.
What do you most enjoy about this form of expression?
I like painting big because the value is there, everybody sees it, and it’s in the public eye. I don’t feel something in a gallery would get as much play as something I painted on State street. I like feedback from people on the street when you’re painting. It’s almost better to hear what they have to say. It’s their mural, and I’ve always fed off of that. It’s exciting to paint big for the public.
How do you arrange access to wall space?
It’s lots of leg work. Sometimes I may know the owner of a building. Sometimes it’s an Instagram contact, or work may come from people I meet. Like anything, it varies, but it’s lots of word-of-mouth. Social media has also helped with big murals.
How do you feel about digital art, is it too perfect?
Yea, but I don’t want to say I don’t like it because I’ve seen amazing stuff from my peers that’s been done on an iPad. I’m a hands-on guy that splatters paint and does his thing. I don’t really like using computers or iPhones. It’s hard for me to have the patience to do a full piece of artwork on an iPad. To me, it’s boring. I’ve seen some awesome stuff, but it’s just not for me.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find lots of inspiration in my family. We recently converted our garage into a studio, and of the six of us, five of them paint in there. My wife helps me with bids and getting jobs. Seeing them develop feels good. It’s hard to put into words, but that inspires me. All my girls are my biggest inspiration. I also like planting seeds for future art. I like being involved with the community at places like the Hip-Hop Education and Recreation Center (HERC), and I’ve also enjoyed working with a non-profit group from East High School, which was kind of cool.
Does your work often require touch-up?
Actually, I rarely do a lot of touch-up work. If something gets written on, chipped, or torn up I’ll touch it up, but paint now lasts for about ten years. After that, people are often open to something new.
Please describe any unspoken rules to this kind of art.
Being from Salt Lake in this setting you really need to respect that you could possibly offend people. After being commissioned to paint a Wyoming mural depicting bestiality when he was younger, Odle said, I don’t want to ever censor my shit, but I won’t paint nudity, guns, or a sheep’s ass on a wall. I do have rules. I won’t paint something indecent in a public setting. At this point, Odle’s wife, who also acts as his business manager chimed in from the other room. “Ask permission before you paint,” she said.
Do you adapt your ideas to a given space, or are your designs set before you roll out?
The space does dictate what I paint, but I always try to customize. You always run into obstacles like a grate on a wall and you almost want to include them into the painting. Whatever surface you paint on will affect the painting.
Is there a relationship, or theme to your works, or are they all individual pieces inspired by separate ideas?
I’ve learned this from other artists growing up: I try to carry on things into other paintings, like elements such as eyes or similar colors to coin my style, for instance. But every painting is individual and different. When we do traditional graffiti productions those all have many similar elements, especially my online “Chew” pieces. For me, doing the lettering pieces is like physical meditation. You build it and carve it all in, and it helps me work stuff out. That’s why I do so many. I paint a lot.
What’s the difference between Graffiti and street art?
Graffiti art comes from a separate culture, it’s not the same thing as street art. You might get punched in the face if you call graffiti street art. It’s not what we are. A street artist is more like a stencil artist.
In my opinion, Graffiti art is almost like Folk Art that’s been passed on from the late seventies. There are things we all do the same from that time period until now. I started in ‘91, but there are things I still do the same, and that’s part of the tradition and repetition of it. It’s the way we embrace our culture, which is why I always do lettering in the traditional Wild Style. As a big ‘90’s fan, Hip-hop has been a major influence.
How does cannabis factor into your creative process?
It’s definitely a big factor. It helps with my creativity, It helps me relax into it, and focus. I’d say, it’s a really big part of it. Weed isn’t my inspiration, but I use that shit to wake up, and go to sleep. That’s how it is.
Advice for up and comers?
Try to plan it out as much as you can. Sketch more.
How do you want to be remembered as a Salt Lake artist?
I want to be remembered for doing big murals everywhere, and having an abundance of them. I’m not a braggart, but it’s kind of cool to say I have dozens of murals in my hometown city and other places. That’s kind of my legacy. Anything I can leave behind that inspires and shows the younger generation how devoted I was, that will hopefully plant a seed they can pick-up and advance further.
For glimpses of Odle’s most recent work, he’ll be finishing a series of three murals at Cutthroat Barber Shop in the next few months. You’ll also find more of his amazing work in local parks, and at the Provocateur Gallery in Park City, owned by Jake Arnold. Stunning pieces are available for purchase at Artsy.net.
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