#23 - TenebrisVia
Tell us more about you..
One side of me is a typical IT person - A father of 2, in my 40s. Chinese and English mixed background, I grew up always one foot in Asia, one foot in the West, wanting to belong to both. I've spent 20 years working in the corporate world, where software is a Science..... But there's a more creative side that goes by the name TenebrisVia (Dark Paths). That side hopes software can also be Art....... I want to use my coding background to create, and to revisit why I loved coding in the first place. So many of us are forced into the 9-5 routine, we give up what we love, that playfulness and curiosity children have.
How do you describe your NFT Art?
So far you could say it's nature / landscape-based generative art, but I'm looking to explore more human aspects. There's only so many trees I can code! Some of my works mention Animism, and try to tell stories of spirits living in the trees, grasses and rocks of the Australian landscape. It's still early days for me, I'm not sure there's a style I'm known for. It's definitely not rushed, I'll agonize for weeks at a time about composition or coding patterns. There's plenty of time, I want to be in this for the long-run.
Why did you choose this piece to show us?
My genesis 'The Old Ones' started with early progress I was posting on Insta, around December 2021, back then I didn't know what an NFT was. A friend I made there suggested to sell my work as an NFT, so after around 10 weeks of night-time and weekend coding, I minted. I had zero clue what I was doing (don't we all, jumping into this NFT space!?) That night the question was how grumpy would I be in the morning, knowing I had wasted my time. I was shocked to see it sold overnight. That gave me an incredible self-confidence, that I could make something people would like. (I have trouble calling it art, or myself an artist) New questions bubbled up, who were these mysterious collectors, how did they follow each other's activity? What else did they buy, and what should I buy? I needed to know more about this space, I was hooked. I chose this piece because I will always remember those months of working late at night, not to produce some lifeless IT system for a bank, but for something I poured my heart into. Back then I didn't have Twitter, so my output had no influence from what was trending, or what styles people liked, etc. Sometimes I want to declutter and go back to that time, where I was just creating for the sake of creating, but working in isolation is pretty lonely.
Can you leave a message to collectors and other artists that are willing to connect with you?
Reach out, DM me! I had no idea the NFT space would be such a supportive, friendly group. Collectors and artists, and builders, and curators, and flippers, and everyone in-between – I've become good friends with people from all backgrounds – People that reached out to me, that I never would have met in real life. See you out there!
