Hello My Name Is: Otur

Name: Otur
Crew: WLC
City/Country: Sweden
When did you start writing? 2000

What’s graffiti for you?
A creative way to stay away from everyday life, to see and feel shit.

Influences?
Everybody that keeps on going.

Tell us about your city, how is life and graffiti there?
Right now I live in Stockholm. Its a beautiful city surrounded by water, crazy atmosphere with three rival football teams, and people painting all the time, everywhere. At the same time the best thing is to get out of here and spend time in the woods.

What keeps you still writing?
The pursuit of happiness.

What first made you interested in graffiti and how did you end up on that track?
My father is afraid of flying, but still traveled a lot back in the days. So we always took the train, where from i could se paintings all over. And ever since a kid I’ve appreciated bridges, train tracks and abandoned places where i saw graffiti and found spray cans.

What trends are you seeing now in the graffiti world that you don’t like?
Nothing really. More tags and less hashtags i guess.

What do you do when you’re not painting?
Im in the streets skateboarding, watching fotboll or spending time in the wilderness with my crew. Im also into making film and photos.

How would you describe your style?
Some kinda elephant trunk that never ends. I adapted a quick style pretty early since Im from a town where its colder than hell most of the year.

Can you remember the first piece you did?
For sure. They had some black and silver cans on low price at the gas station, so me and a friend went to pick some up. Then we painted inside an old warehouse. We got chased and had to smash a window to get out.

Future plans?
Except keeping it real, I want to keep traveling and make more film and exhibitions.

Do you adapt your pieces and tags to the spot/surface?
Always. I find the spot, imagine the painting, see the photo and then i paint.

What do you think about the new generation of writers in your city?
There are a lot of really good styles, specially on the trains.

What are the best and worst aspects of graffiti?
All the places you get to see and the people you get to meet. Bad part is all the concern it might cause my loved ones.

Who do you paint for?
I believe everybody paints for themselves.

What writers have inspired you?
TH, NRC, F-UPS, FAME. The Brikkgraff generation.

Can you ever feel tired of graffiti?
Very much so. Im not really interested in graffiti. I enjoy surroundings, environments and mostly paint by myself.

What do you hope people will think and feel when they see your stuff?
It’s always nice to put a smile on someones face, but to be honest i don’t really care.

FIVE FAVORITES
Spray Paint: Montana black
City: Luleå
Markers/pens: Uni paint
Surface: Old rusty freight trains
Cap: Level 1 and Astro

Instagram: @Guldvittring