Most of us aren’t particularly crazy about insects; many of us try to eliminate them from our gardens and have yet to warm up to actually eating them, though with the growing trend of apparently quite yummy edible insect products, that does seem to be changing.
But whether one likes them or not, insects are incredible creatures. Portuguese street artist Odeith gives them a nod in his own playful way, through his larger-than-life urban murals of realistically painted insects.
World of Giant Insects comes to life By ODEITH
Odeith, who is also known for his anamorphic graffiti lettering work, takes the same approach with his paintings: they look distorted and unrecognizable, until one steps around and views them from a specific angle. Then, the work begins to make sense.
According to Widewalls, Odeith has been doing street art since the 1980s, and is one of the pioneers of anamorphic 3D graffiti since the mid-2000s, as he gained international recognition for his experimental technique, which sometimes involves painting these optical illusion images on differently angled surfaces or corners.
Odeith’s work evinces his obvious fascination with insects, as he tells us:
I was always fascinated with these little creatures because of the colours, shapes and I think it’s funny to paint them on a bigger size.
Odeith’s sense of humour shines through in the way he portrays these critters; sometimes they are made to look like menacing threats emerging from the dark, forgotten corners of the city, other times, they seem to be like gentle giants in the landscape. Though Odeith says that some of his works are for “pure entertainment, other works carry a serious message about consumerism and poverty.
Insects don’t often get allocated the prime time slot in our lives, small as they seem to be. But by magnifying them and placing them front and centre in such a colourfully eye-popping way, Odeith’s work reminds us that insects are an integral part of our lives. To see more, visit Odeith, or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.