Durell Baxter
- Anna Lilli Garai
- May 27
- 4 min read
Durell Baxter makes work that flows like music. Images loop, repeat, shift. Figures come and go, sometimes talking, sometimes just passing through. Color builds mood, but rhythm carries the piece. His process is loose and layered — drawing from sound, memory, poetry, and whatever catches in the moment. Each part feels open, and the work comes together with its own rhythm. It holds a mood and lets you stay with it.
Q: What does "Embrace... The... Trippy..." mean to you now compared to when you first started using it?
A: "Embrace... The... Trippy..." means coming to the conclusion of understanding or accepting the circumstances that may arise from each working result. It entails the journey within yourself and seeks to expand it into the outside world. By looking for acceptance or change within ourselves, we have the power to transform minds through our words and perception through our visuals. Compared to when I first started using my ideology, "Embrace... The... Trippy..." now invites others to see and feel beyond normal comprehension—to an extent of relatability and liberation. It’s about sharing memories, emotions, and experiences, and turning them into immersive memoirs that create an environment of warmth and vulnerability, based on the words and visuals it entails.
Q: Your work connects like chapters. How much of the storyline is planned and how much just happens?
A: Yes, my work does indeed connect like chapters, but I feel the storyline is just like me: spontaneous. Impulsive with a reason. Instinctive with a purpose. Unorthodox with a method. Some things are planned out, and some things just happen without reason or notice. My work tells an intertwined sequence of events based on my experiences, but my experiences aren't planned. For me, you can't plan for experiences—they just have to happen naturally. And when they do, they create memories in your mind that you can carry with you forever.
Like walking down the street at night with golden brown streetlights hitting your body while it's also raining. And one of your favorite songs happens to come on while you're walking home.
Was that planned or was it a spontaneous experience? It depends on how we look at it. I'd say it's about perspective; I let things unfold in their own time. Then, I capture that story through my art.
Q: Where does music come in when you’re building a new piece?
A: Music comes into play in my work like a massive shockwave to the brain, creating ecstatic feelings of whimsy, joy, and adrenaline when I’m creating new art pieces. I sometimes find that the mood of the songs helps me set the tone for the visuals and the color scheme—based on the angelic voices, melodies, and instrumentals. And once I find the inspiration, everything else falls into place.
Q: You mix surreal scenes with real moments. What helps you find that balance?
A: Balance is key in most situations. For me, I find the right balance between surrealism and realism by layering and time management. Add some “real” here and some “surreal” there, and the blending of both genres will seek out its own self-discovery of balance through discipline, commitment, time, and dedication. I think there’s no exact way to find that balance, but to accept your own type of balance as it is when moving between the two genres.
Finishing something and being able to come back to it later—that’s the real balance. That way, I can add anything I might have missed.
Q: What’s something you hope sticks with people after seeing your work?
A: Immersing and drawing others into my work makes me hopeful for the future—not just mine, but many others too, and the career paths they might choose. As a young artist, one of my goals became to "inspire into reality", and I did just that. Not just with my artwork, but with what makes up who I am—or rather, what I’ve become.
We are what we say we are and can be what we say we are. The same goes for what we do or want to do. I still live by that aspiration.
So inspiring others—through what they read, look at, or watch about me—is something I hope sticks with people who come across my work.
Q: Do you see your art more as a personal diary or a shared trip?
A: I see my art as both a personal diary and a shared trip. Something I can feel, touch, smell, write about, create, and share with the world is something most people would dream of doing. Maybe some wouldn’t, out of fear or ridicule. But what was the reason you experienced what happened in the first place? To capture it. To write it down. To create it. And to share it regardless. I try not to just echo the noise, but to build something that lasts—something others can keep and take with them too. Your art can be your journal and someone else’s guide. Two sides of the same coin, each holding value—whether personal or shared.
