The most recent exhibition, Into The Woods, by UK based artist Adam Oehlers at the No Vacancy Project Room last month was every bit the fairytale it promised to be. The collection of works for ‘Into the woods’ were simply stunning, and even more intricate and intoxicating in real life then they are on screen.

The incredible detail, depth of tone and use of light creates a world of mystery that only entices you further to read the accompanying story and find out more about the quirky, and sometimes crazy, characters within them. With four books already published, and another couple in the pipeline, Adam’s work is both inspired and created by the world of fairytales. Sometimes grim, often dark and mysterious, these are not the fairytales of your childhood.

Adam has exhibited across Australia and the UK, his work ranging from illustrations, sculptures, album sleeves and design and illustration for animation. In expectation of his exhibition last month, we got in touch to find out more about these curious characters, and where his love for these fairytales came from …

‘Into the Woods’ is your new collection of works being shown at No Vacancy, and draws ‘inspiration from classic tales and those of your own creation’. What are those classic tales that have helped inspire and create this work?

The majority of work from this collection was inspired by Grimm’s fairy tales. Some well know stories like ‘Tom Thumb’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, and some lesser know tales such as ‘The Juniper Tree’ and ‘The Old Woman in the Woods’. The rest of the show is made up of images from my own stories, most of which have some strong roots back to the Grimm tales.

Have stories and fairy tales always had a big influence on your imagination? What is it about them that draws you in?

There is always a story behind my illustrations, weather they have been written down or are just floating around my head. I am drawn to the slightly darker side of story telling which I think is why the Grimm tales have influenced me so much. I like the idea of these characters having to overcome their fears in order to deal with these terrifying situations, having to out smart the villain, such as Hansel holding up a bone instead of his finger to trick the Witch into thinking that he is still too skinny to eat. Its a terrifying situation made a little funny by Hansel imaginative solution. I like this kind of contrast in a story. But I can find inspiration in any tale that has imaginative characters and world to get lost in.

A lot of your work produces storybooks for adults, often with a darkness of tone and mood. What creates this? Is it a reflection of the intended audience?

A lot of my work is intended for a slightly older audience but I think that children can get something out of it as well. When I think back on the stories that have stayed with me from childhood its always the ones that scared me that come to mind first. I’m not sure why I’m drawn to these themes but I think they are present in the children’s books I’ve done as well, though toned down a bit. Projects like my illustrated edition of ‘The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner’ and my book ‘Dear little Emmie’ are definitely for an older Audience, Adults who still have that bit of their childhood living in side them, but I try to aim my children’s books at both the older and younger audience. With my illustrations I try to capture the mood of the story and as I am drawn to the darker tales my work comes across as kind spooky.

You have written a number of stories that work alongside your artwork in the form of story books. Is there a difference in creative approach between writing the story and creating the artwork? What comes first?

Its a little different every time. Normally it will start with a segment of a story, an image of a character and a situation and as I am working on the piece the story will slowly come together until there is an entire history of the character. So the Story and the first illustration will slowly developed at the same time. If I’m really excited about the idea Ill move onto a second and third illustration and with each one the story will develop more and more. Unfortunately I very rarely write them down, I might scribble the ideas in my note book and some of them will be more detailed than others but I’ve only ever written down and completed two of my stories. One is called ‘the Faraway Man’ and the other is ‘Dear Little Emmie’ which is being released by the French publishing house ‘Au Fond Du Grenier’ later on this year. The rest are segments and snippets belonging to different characters in the same world, hopefully one day I’ll find a way of putting them all together.

There is a wonderful mood and ephemeral quality to your work, such a clever use of light within a limited colour palette. Do the pictures aim to tell as much of a story themselves as the words alongside?

I try to not tell too much of the story with my illustrations. I like to capture a moment, not necessarily the main event but the moment before, or a realisation that the character has. Such as that calm moment before a storm where the viewer can see something is about to happen but they’re not sure what. Then the text is there to describe the event. I’ve had a lot of fun playing around with the relationship between text and image and I think the way an illustrator approaches this relationship can go a long way in showing their own personal style.

Your short story, and one of my favourites, ‘Dear Little Emmie’ is being composed into a book of over 200 images – that’s a whole lot of images! Can you tell us a little more about this project?

‘Dear Little Emmie’ Has been with me for around 8 years. She started as a painting, depicting Emmie standing in the swamp. As I worked on this the story came together. I then made a sculpture of Emmie and started tightening up the details of the tale. It stayed with me for a few years and then in 2007 I started work on what I thought would be the final illustrations for the book. This collection was made up of 50 black and white illustration which I exhibited in Adelaide. In 2009 we Launched my version of ‘The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner’. It was during the International Comic Festival in Anguleme so I thought I would make up some books to take with me. I made up 100 copies of ‘Little Emmie’ to give out to people and I showed it to my publisher. They were really interested in it and said we should go ahead and print it. I had always seen it as a black and white book and at that stage I thought that all of the work was done and ready for print. I was hesitant at first when my publisher suggested I try adding colour but when I started I couldn’t stop. The 50 original illustrations ended up serving more as a story board and I ended up re-working the whole thing. Adding to the world and the story until it turned into 200 illustrations.

I wont go into too many details about the story as I want it to remain a bit of a surprise but if I were to sum it up I would describe it as being a kind of Uplifting Ghost Story. It is the body of work that I am most proud of at the moment. It will be released within the next couple of months. You can visit my website at www.adamoehlers.com for updates on its release.

The original drawings for ‘Emmie’ show how much your style has grown and developed over the years, and now speak much more closely to your current sculptures than your drawings. Are there any artists or even stories which you think have helped influence these changes?

I think there is a definite change in my style when comparing the original pieces for Little Emmie to the new work. I don’t think there was anything in particular that spurred on these changes. As I’ve matured I think my work has matured with me. My characters used to be incredibly twisted and almost surreal but has I’ve moved on that twisted element has become a bit less prominent in some of my work. These days I think my work has a stronger connection to our world, with small hints of odd magic that creep in at the edges. There is a huge list of Artist and Writers that have influenced me during that time that would be responsible for some of the changes in my work. The work of Edward Gorey has been my biggest influence, looking through is books made me re-think my entire approach to illustrating and story telling. The work of artists such as Shaun Tan and John Vernon Lord have played a big part. Neil Gaimans work ‘Neverwhere’, ‘Anansi Boys’, ‘The Graveyard Book’ , ‘Coraline’ and many more remain endless sources of inspiration for me. On a more classic note ‘Edgar Allan Poe’, ‘Samuel Coleridge’, ‘Arthur C Clark’, ‘Richard Adams’… the list could go on and on and on :)

Having a look through some of your recent sculpture work for ‘Mr. Fortune’s Peculiar Pet Shop’, there is the same elegance of your illustrations, yet the mood is a lot darker. Do you aim to explore different concepts through your sculptures?

I see my sculptures as a continuation of my drawings, belonging to the same world. Most of the time I will finish an illustration and if I’m really happy with the concept and I’m not ready to let it go then I’ll turn it into a sculpture. More often than not My sculptures will be pared with a drawing. I think my sculpture end up being a little darker because of what we spoke about earlier. I’m drawn to the darker themes, so often it will be these ideas that I really want to keep developing.

I’m loving this collection of pieces, the combination of animals are indeed, quite peculiar, yet entirely feasible at the same time! Where did the inspiration for this collection come from? Any plans for a story to follow?

Mr Fortune is a character that has been with me for quite a while. He’s one of the main characters of a story called ‘Three House town’ and he’s popped up with some bit roles in some other tales. He’s a strange little inventor with an incredibly warped sense of logic. The idea of his pet shop came about after chatting with a friend and we started making a list of all the possible animal combinations that he could create. I loved the idea so I started work on the first of the creatures ‘The Frobbit’, as I worked on this the story started to come to me it goes something like this…

Mr Fortune started his collection by trying to create the most powerful jumping creature that has ever existed. He may have had a reason for doing this but somewhere along the lines he forgot what it was. His efforts gave birth to ‘the Frobbit’ half frog half rabbit. As it happens with most of his inventions though, it started to go very wrong when he discovered on a visit to his frobbit enclosure that the frobbits would not stop multiplying. They became so many that the enclosure could no longer hold them and they spread like cane toads across the surrounding landscape. A simple solution presented itself to him though. He combined the most efficient hunters he could think of to pursue the ever growing frobbit population. Thus, ‘The Foxtapus’ was born, half fox and half octopus lethal to a frobbit on land and in water. However, the frobbits incredible power in its hind legs soon became its demise. When attacked its only instinct is to jump, and when the foxtapus was introduced the frobbits got such a shock that their leaps for freedom sent them into orbit. Those that were lucky enough to escape the Teeth of the foxtapus ended up orbiting the planet.

Other creatures from the petshop include the ‘Prayingmatalope, the Squiraffe and the Ramillion (you can see them all on my website if you fancy it). Each of the creatures have their own stories, some that interlock with others and some that stand alone. I hope to one day put them all together into the form of a book.

Being that your work revolves around storybooks and fairy tales, what would your ultimate fairytale be when it comes to your work?

My all time favourite book, which I have loved ever since I first came across it, isn’t a fairytale at all – but an alphabet book. It is The Gashlycrumb Tinies’ by Edward Gorey. The book is filled with all the things I aspire to have in my work, Grim, horrible, disturbing but funny images filled with  calamitous situations. Its not a story or fairytale but each image in it is a story unto itself …

For more information on Adam’s work check out his website or contact Just Another Agency.