Matik • Artist Spotlight

What got you in to Crypto art?

Over the past 10 years I have been primarily creating record covers for music producers as a side gig to my everyday job, whilst it has been great working with everyone, my ideal situation would be to be able to work on more detailed, time intensive pieces and get paid a fair fee for it. With the onset of NFT’s its becoming possible for collectors to see the artist and the art for its true worth, with the potential of joining in their journey by collecting and potentially re-selling their artworks in the marketplace. It seemed like an interesting space to me so I thought I would begin to dive in a bit deeper after seeing some artists start to post NFT artworks in mid 2020.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Pinterest is a great tool for me to compartmentalize my inspiration into categories and moods, I have several mood boards which I constantly update providing large sources of inspiration to use as starting points on new works. The intelligence of the platform to recommend works is great and its constantly feeding me great new work by artists all around the globe.

What do you think of traditional artwork?

I adore traditional mediums and the artists who inhabit that space, I think there is a real raw talent that comes with traditional mediums, people are almost vessels to a higher creative spirit, its fascinating to watch and I think there is a kind of magic that inhibits these people. I find artists who began in these mediums have an extra edge over other artists when moving towards more digital 3d art, incorporating tools like Corel painter to add extra layers to renders and incorporating a real artistic sensibility to their works.

Do you think your art is fulfilling a purpose?

I no doubt gain a cathartic release from any type of creative exercise. Digital art is great for this, the ability to sit down and create something in a few hours, get a nice little hit of dopamine and then continue along with your day is a great routine for me. It can be easier and more meaningful for creative introverts to express themselves through their creative outlets, creating digital worlds which may resonate with others around the world and provide them with the same release as the creator, the positive feedback from other artists especially is extremely fulfilling and provides a constant source of self-reassurance that you are on the right track in your journey.

How did you start out as an artist?

I initially started out producing music in the early 2000's under the alias Sun in Aquarius. I was fortunate enough to perform at festivals all around Australia, New Zealand and North America, at which time i also started the experimental music imprint Enig'matik Records, which is an experimental label with a focus on twisted sound design. Since its inception we have released some amazing artists and have been lucky enough to collaborate with such respected companies as Twisted Tools & Glitchmachines. During this time i began creating graphics for the label and went on to do this for several years, developing a style and aesthetic that you see in my work today. For several years I created my graphics solely for my label but i have since gone on to work with other artists from all around the world, I believe over the last 10 years I have worked on over 400 record covers, slowly learning new tricks along the way.

Who or what inspires your work?

There is no doubt and endless amount of inspiration coming through daily online from every corner of the globe. I have always loved modern sci-fi aesthetics contrasting with organic geometry and are incredibly envious of what the top cg artists are creating today. The rate of which gpu rendering is advancing is making it possible for artists like myself to create realistic textures and landscapes which were a pipedream 20 years ago. I think its great that everyday artists now can take their inspiration and really push their own limits and not be stifled by the limits of the current tech, people are advancing 3d and developing crazy new styles every week and your brain is literally bursting with ideas to try out on your own machines.

Which other artist(s) do you admire?

Whilst I create heavy digital artworks I would say the artists I admire most come from more traditional mediums like abstract graffiti, freehand drawing etc, I have not really been blessed with the skills to create works like these so there is a lot of mystery and magic to me which i find incredibly intriguing, artists like Daim and DZO Oliver come to mind. I initially got into 3d after seeing the work of Graffiti Technica, an artist also out of Australia in the early 2000's, I found his artwork mind blowing at the time and it caused me to dig deeper and start to learn the software, so I will always have a lot of admiration towards him for that.

Final question, what’s next for you as an artist?

I ended up having quite a bit of free time last year during covid, so I was fortunate to be able to learn a lot through other artists and the community and set myself up for creating some more detailed and higher quality pieces. Im sure that the NFT movement will inspire me to make the most of my toolset, hopefully creating some of my best work to date. The possibility of collectors believing in my work enough to back me is and inspiration to keep pushing forward.