CryptoSpectr: VR and Crypto Art

I was introduced to VR a few years ago (2016/17) by a friend from my college days, an artist and influencer also known as Metageist. I was amazed at the intuitive, dynamic UI and the speed at which I could produce 3D artwork that would have taken me weeks to achieve with desktop based software. Since then I have assisted Metageist in developing and delivering VR workshops and showcasing the technology at various events. As VR based creative software like TiltBrush, Medium, GravitySketch, Tvori or Quill are still relatively new, they occupy a unique space all of their own amongst other creative software.

However, before being turned on to the Crypto Art scene by fellow record breaking digital artist Spaced Painter, I had begun to wonder if my investment in VR would really pay off in the ways I’d hoped it would, even though I loved creating with these tools I hadn’t seen many opportunities or genuine examples of people making a real career or regular income using the technology. Certain prominent business/tech influencers have even stated that they don’t see VR becoming any more successful in a commercial sense, I do not believe they’re correct in that assumption, but only time will tell. Delivering workshops and showcasing VR experiences at events can certainly be a lot of fun to do, but the financial payoff doesn’t always offset the logistical stress and preparation involved and there’s been a looming sense that showcasing VR tech will become more redundant as people begin to see it as commonplace.

But despite these concerns many people see exciting potential in VR or what it may lead to further down the line, those conversations are always fun to have when introducing newbies to the experience and children usually get that sense straight away and leave their first session inspired by the possibilities. Since I started minting VR artwork on the blockchain earlier this year I no longer have a sense of uncertainty about my investment in it and have been fairly overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude to be a part of this moment in time.

The art I produce can be varied as I enjoy exploring all kinds of ideas, I don’t like to limit myself to one style in particular so I explore all sorts of techniques, traditional and digital alike. In terms of themes and content I do enjoy dipping my toes into abstracted expressions, cubism or deconstruction of forms, most of the art I create is figurative though, situational, story or character driven. The natural world also fascinates me as can be seen in my recent Hummingbird and Spider surreal anatomical explorations. Many people looking at my body of work for the first time comment that it’s ‘quite dark’, I can’t really deny that, even when I try to draw something cute or beautiful, no matter what I do it tends to end up looking a little eerie or slightly grotesque in some way. I am attracted to intricate, dark, exquisite, organic forms or technological beauty, erotica and fetishism, energetic or silent spaces, cosmic and psychedelic musings. I have always taken inspiration from many different sources, music, film & animation, nature, philosophy, satire, religion, art movements from classical to hyper modern, most notably surrealism, cubism and Asian art styles of all kinds.

My creative process tends to differ depending on which medium I am using. When developing a particular concept I immerse myself in it, consuming as much varied material as I can, and whatever strikes me as powerful and engaging, which could be anything from a specific pose to a particular colour palette, I borrow from those places and transmute it all through my own style.

Since discovering the Crypto Art movement my views on the future of art have been drastically expanded, more so with every passing week, hearing about new and ever more complex innovations, collaborations and mingling of traditional and digital techniques within the metaverse, I find myself imagining all kinds of possibilities for creativity branching out into the future. At this moment in time, VR based creative software feels to me like a perfect way to imagine and produce art for the blockchain, the technology allows for a uniquely modern form of expression – painting in an immersive 3D space as some VR artists have already expressed in words and through physicality when creating their art can feel almost akin to dance, especially with TiltBrush or Quill, if your working area is large enough you can really use the movement and flow of your body through space in very satisfying ways to make marks and create your art.

I am of European descent, born in Germany in 1980, raised in a small village in Cambridgeshire, England. I came out of school fairly disappointed in Art as a subject, although family and friends were often impressed with my drawing skills, at that time I had aspirations to be a performer of some kind, but a year later after experiencing my fill of the drama behind drama, I returned to art & design. My focus then swung strongly towards Special Effects, a solid role at Tippet Studios or Weta Workshop would have suited me nicely, but after many blank stares and confused responses from tutors / advisors, very few leads on UK soil (obviously pre-internet) and the realisation that I would really have to relocate to the USA to get anywhere in that industry, I opted to specialise in animation. Since graduating I have worked as a creative in a number of different industries – design & build, film & media, retail marketing, games & software dev. In more recent years I have also worked a great deal as a creative freelancer for all kinds of clients great and small.

My goals as an artist can be a shifting target, but now that I am very much embedded in the Crypto Art space I intend to push things as far as I can and hopefully explore more of my aspirations such as: producing episodic animated shows, immersive story driven experiences, large scale painting, sculpture and tokenized designer Toys and of course more cinematic VR art. I wish I had a hundred lifetimes to explore these ideas and disciplines, but don’t we all! Generally speaking I aspire to produce evocative thought provoking and ultimately positive life affirming art and at this point I intend to continue building on my recent record breaking successes such as Dryad & Satyr and Dracul both of which are my collabs with Spaced Painter so far with the later breaking the record for biggest NFT sale at the time of it’s release and hope to continue and improve upon this standard of success at SuperRare.

So far the Crypto Art scene has been nothing but exciting and intriguing to me. I really like exploring places like CryptoVoxels, SomniumSpace and Decentraland, discovering new builds and artworks. Even though it’s a relatively new movement in my eyes, there are already NFTs floating around which are considered to be antiques, which shows how quickly the space is evolving. With a constant stream of innovations from all sides the digital topography is still being mapped out and new foundations for the future are being built. I am extremely excited to see where things go in the coming months / years and however things pan out I plan to witness every step and continue to make whatever contributions I can pushing this movement forwards into the future.