Downtown Weekly caught up with world-renowned artist and LA native, Cryptik, who’s been blessing the streets of DTLA with his enchanting artwork. The muralist uses inspiration derived from language to create stunning pieces that explore the origin of language and leave us speechless.
How did Cryptik’s journey as an artist begin? Cryptik, who gracefully declines to share his government name, explains, “It really started when I embarked on my own personal spiritual journey about 20 years ago. I was experiencing and learning so much about consciousness, the nature of reality, eastern philosophy, ancient wisdom traditions, etc…, and I really wanted to share that information with the world. Naturally, the streets seemed to be the best way to do that so the “Cryptik Movement” was born. It was 2008.”
Becoming a way for him to share the things that he’d learned along the way and inspire others to start on their own path, out of all the forms of art and mediums he could’ve chosen, Cryptik sticks to murals as his preferred niche.
Cryptik told Downtown Weekly, “I think there’s something about taking your time and putting the proper energy into a mural that is really rewarding. People can feel that energy even though they may not necessarily understand the art. I really enjoy the challenge of creating site-specific work that integrates with the existing space as well. For me, the environment will always determine the artwork, giving me the opportunity to create something new each time.”
Mayfair Hotel Cryptik Message
Art fanatics can see Cryptik’s work featured in the prominent new Mayfair hotel. How does the artist feel about this exciting development? Just as proud and grateful as you’d imagine. “It feels great to have my work featured in such a thoughtful and beautifully reimagined space, where art becomes the centrepiece. RISK did a great job of curating the space and I’m very honored to be among some really great artists and friends. This will certainly be a destination for art lovers.”
Sky’s the Limit
Many wonder what the biggest obstacles are that come with being a professional artist. Cryptik reveals his biggest obstacle is simply time. “For me, time is probably my biggest obstacle. There’s so much more I want to do and experience in this lifetime, other than painting murals and canvases, so I’m constantly trying to find that balance.” We can relate to the constant struggle of trying to balance work life with personal interests and a social life. As they say, practice makes perfect.
Cryptik sees his greatest triumph as being able to do what he loves every day on top of the larger goal of creating something bigger than himself.
“The biggest triumph for me is to be able to do what I love every day, which is a real blessing. Whether it’s painting, gardening, or building I’m able to live the life that I want to live and that’s something that I never take for granted. It’s difficult for me to view my career in terms of triumphs and accomplishments when the goal has always been to create something bigger than myself.
It’s never been about me or my accomplishments, but rather about contributing in some way to the happiness of others and the care of the planet as a whole.”
Cryptik describes his style to someone who’s never encountered his work before with a response that takes us further into deep conversation and to a whole new level.
“My work is about rediscovering the sacredness of the written word and the power that it holds. It’s imagining language as a gift, handed down to man from the ‘Gods’ and what that might look like.
It’s a universal script that explores the origin of language itself and is inspired by many writing systems from Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Devanagari to Chinese characters, etc…”
In between travelling and creating more visual masterpieces, Cryptik looks forward to the future currently working towards a solo show in Paris scheduled in 2019. He’ll also be spending a lot of time out there later this year to work on a mural and print release.
“It’s also been a long time since I’ve done something back home in LA, so there may be a pop-up in the works at some point in the near future.”
@cryptik
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