mewpsd: Artist Spotlight

mewpsd continues to surprise us, like a never ending experiment. mewpsd's artistic style is a digital rendition of abstract narratives that we all find ourselves in. You can always find a way to resonate with a mewpsd artwork and that's exactly the intention in mind.

- zonted

🖼 view mewpsd's art in the zonted genesis exhibition: https://www.cryptovoxels.com/play?coords=N@312E,565N,0.5U

How did you get into crypto (NFT) art?

I first started getting interested in cryptoart after seeing FEWOCiOUS post about it and some of my friends started to get involved in NFTs. I really pulled the trigger and dove into Rarible after hearing em0tionull talk about it in a group chat we were both added to.

After getting set up, I started doing some reading and paying more attention to the scene, and it really blew my mind the possibilities that cryptoart opened for artists. Between 3D artists, digital artists, and animated pieces, the possibilities just seemed endless. I started talking with more people in the scene and its definitely been a huge inspiration to try and push myself even further.

Seems like 2020 was an amazing year for digital artists and more specifically cryptoartists. What factors do you think led to your audience growth over the past few years?

Were there specific activities that you did to help grow your fanbase and audience? What tips do you have for cryptoartists that are just entering the scene now?

Man, its been a great year for artists and cryptoartists. Honestly, I think being quarantined and on lockdown definitely pushed my audience and skill set further. I was just staying inside focusing on my craft and learning new skills. I can’t count how many hours I lost in experiments and YouTube tutorials. There always seemed something new to learn and still is.

I believe I started doing everyday pieces in February or March, and for the first few months I wasn’t getting any interaction. I had like 200 followers, maybe 1 or 2 sales, and struggled to get 8 likes on a post. With the everydays, it definitely helped me grow my fanbase and audience because people like to see new things in this digital age. However, it's definitely a double edged sword; people come to expect a piece every day and it definitely can lead to burn out.

Another thing that I think helped grow my audience is the core principle I’ve built my brand around—Mew is for the people. So even when I had less followers, I was dropping free texture packs, giving away prints, answering DMs about my process, linking people assets, etc.

I believe you get what you put into the universe and I definitely wouldn’t be where I am right now if people didn’t do the same for me. I think people recognize the authenticity and to this day, I do my best to continue answering DMs about my process, give honest critiques, provide resources, and anything I can do to help people further their craft.

The best advice I can give for people starting out in cryptoart, or whatever scene really, is hard work and consistency will always pay off. This doesn’t necessarily mean constantly putting out work, but definitely practice and hone your skills. The greats didn’t become great overnight. 10,000 hours into a craft is the ultimate goal and realistically, people will recognize your growth and tune in to see where your art will take you.

Are you doing art full time? What are you doing to pay the bills? And what were you doing before cryptoart?

Unfortunately, I’m still not at the point where I’m able to do cryptoart full time. Ever since I’ve started putting out my everdays, I’ve also been a full time student while working at a thrift store and doing snow removal.

Cryptoart has definitely put me in a better position to support my family and also help me invest back into my craft. It’s given me the opportunity to pursue creative ideas that previously were just not financially viable, such as being able to have augmented reality compatible prints available on my physical store. I would love the opportunity to be able to do art full time. There’s just so much to learn and experiment with that every hour of practice can really provide a much needed breakthrough.

As far as we can see, most of the work you’ve created could be classified as digital abstract impressionism. How would you describe your artistic style?

Ahhh, this is a good one. I think you definitely nailed it; abstract impressionism seems to fit my style best.

Abstract anything really has a special place in my heart, especially when it comes to digital art and sharing art online. It seems so cool to me that I can make something with one feeling and vibe in mind, and countless people across the world can take something else from it.

Abstract art means the world to me because it really shows how we all interpret something differently. It’s very interesting to see how people’s minds can work and can get a better idea of how they view the world. It's tough because while I do mainly work in abstract forms, I tend to switch up styles very often.

The biggest critique I’ve gotten (and I still need to further experiment with) is my lack of subjects in my pieces. I’ve tried to incorporate some realistic styles, but I’m not quite at the point where I can do that and still have people know the work is mine, you know? It just seems to result in pieces that I personally am not satisfied with, so they go in the vault.

What are some examples of styles you've tried but didn't really like? also, what are your favorite styles so far?

My favourite styles are really my colour and shape experiments: learning how certain colour schemes work together and how shape and balance can tie a piece together have been my favourite things I’ve done up to this point. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a specific style pinned down because I’m always experimenting, but it mostly will always have abstract impressionist influences.

What inspires you to create art? Why?

Before I got into art, I was not in a good place mentally or emotionally. 2014-2015 was the worst year of my life and I was stuck in a deep depression. I was failing out of school and isolating myself from my friends after going through a series of traumatic events.

My best friend—still is to this day—loaned me his camera and I fell in love with photography. From there, it led me to exploring more and more different mediums, ranging from collage to painting to where I am now, with digital art.

Art literally saved me from myself. It gave me a voice when I didn’t think I had one and couldn’t figure out how to properly express myself. So now, to this day, I often write a little bit to see where my mind is at, and then I try to create something that expresses that feeling. If I can’t pin down anything that particular day, I often read, watch movies, go for walks, or try to envision certain scenarios that would possibly invoke a specific emotion, and make a piece based off that

Art is completely subjective and beauty is supposedly in the eye of the beholder, yet bad art exists. What in your mind constitutes “bad art”? Is a banana duct taped to a wall “bad art”?

Hahahah oh man, I got opinions about this. First off let me make this clear: beginner art does not equal bad art and there is absolutely nothing wrong with making bad art. All artists at some point in their career make bad art. The important thing is being honest with yourself by being able to take a step back and say "Yeah, maybe this isn’t it. How can I push myself further/improve for my next piece?"

Hell, I make bad art quite a bit. You should see what doesn’t make it to twitter. For every piece I put out, there’s probably 3-4 variants that were scrapped or reworked along the way. The vault of bad art just seems to get bigger, but the beauty of holding on to them is having the ability to rework and combine certain aspects of them to bring forward a whole new concept. As for pieces that get minted, that margin grows even smaller. I’m not one to put up something for sale that I don’t believe is my best work. I don’t think that’s fair to potential collectors to just put out something that I feel I could have done better. I also don’t think it’s how I want myself or my brand to be known. I’d much rather have a couple pieces minted instead of minting everything I make. The end result is me minting fewer pieces, but those pieces I’m very proud of.

Bad art to me is art made purely for a profit. Or art that doesn’t necessarily push the artist's skill or the art scene forward. Not all art has to mean something, sometimes things just look nice and that’s all there is to it. But those pieces are good because they really test the artist’s skill, knowledge, and ability. Art that is lazy and just meant for purely consumerism, that does nothing for the scene, nothing for the artist themselves, does not convey anything (in my opinion) is bad art. As an artist, growth should be the ultimate goal. You should want to make better and better art each time you create, you should want to hone your skills. If you don’t, (again, my opinion) you are definitely more prone to making bad art.

This Banana Was Duct-Taped to a Wall. It Sold for $120,000.

Is the banana duct-taped to a wall good, or is it bad? It sold for $120,000, if that helps you make up your mind.

GQJames Grebey

Ahh the infamous banana. I’m gonna say yes, it’s bad art. I might get slandered for it but that’s okay. I understand the point that the artist may have been trying to convey, but there could have been so many other ways that could have been conveyed while improving as an artist.

One of the benefits of cryptoart is the deviation away from art being an “elitist jerk off” into something approachable and N3RDY. What are some downsides that you’ve observed about cryptoart? What do you feel the community could do better?

Yes! That’s one of my favourite things about cryptoart; a lot of times in the traditional art world you definitely have to maintain this insane level of professionalism at all times and end up acting more like a robot than anything.

With cryptoart, artists can crack jokes, make dumb memes, make typos, whatever! Obviously yes, you still have to worry about your brand and not be completely out of pocket; nobody is gonna want to support someone who’s just overall being a bad person online. But it definitely humanizes artists to a level that traditional art worlds may not necessarily ‘let’ the artists be.

Some of the downsides about the cryptoart scene that I've noticed:

• artists I’ve seen are changing up their style in order to make sales,
• platforms are perceived to be gatekeeping,
• artists are quickly discouraged by lack of success and interactivity,
• potential collectors don’t view NFTs or cryptoart as a "real thing when you can simply just save the image".

For the first point, someone gave me sound advice earlier this year:

Just focus on what you want to make and what you want to create; the minute you start creating with the intention of sales, you’re losing.

That resonated with me deeply and I’ve learned that if you keep pushing and developing your style further, your audience, collectors, and fanbase will come. Hard work and consistency always pay off.

In regards to the platforms, I think the common theme I’ve heard from artists is more transparency regarding the onboarding process and what makes certain people get accepted vs others rejected. It’s demoralizing getting rejected with no reason as to why and I think some transparency could go a long way. Is it a matter of building the audience or skill first? Artists don’t know what to do really.

The lack of immediate success and getting discouraged after no immediate sales is something I see a lot. It’s important to remember that cryptoart is not a "get rich quick" thing and even in the traditional art world, you’re gonna have periods where nothing you make will sell. Pre-COVID-19, I’ve done art shows where I’ve sat there for 4-5 hours, priced my work LOW, and still haven’t sold anything. It happens. It’s whatever. You just can’t let yourself get discouraged, use that frustration as fuel to improve your work and push yourself further.

Lastly, I see a lot of the "cryptoart is a scam" discourse on the timeline. I mean, if you do your own research (DYOR) and still come to that conclusion, that’s one thing. But if you’re not willing to do some research into blockchain technology, NFTs, crypto in general, it’s gonna be clear to see why cryptoart and NFTs really are changing the game and are the future. Ease of use could also be something too; for people new to the scene it might be a little daunting to try and figure out how to go about collecting for the first time.

What’s your involvement with Fangz Magazine? How does an artist participate or interact with the group? What’s your goal with Fangz?

FANGZ! Yes! I’m an interviewer and designer for Fangz Magazine, and have been working with everyone here in highlighting some incredible talent that we feel deserves more shine.

Creative Art Magazine | Fangz Art Magazine

Fangz Magazine is an independent artist-run online publication dedicated to sharing and promoting various forms of art.

Fangz MagazineMew -

We have multiple interviews already released, more ready to be released, and even more interviews booked with some incredible talent. Gonna take this time to shoutout @em0tionull again for starting this brand years ago and letting us help him revive the brand, none of this would be possible without him doing the groundwork all this time ago.

Contact | Fangz Magazine

Emotionull (Founder/Editor) contact@emotionull.net https://twitter.com/em0tionull emotionull#3896 https://emotionull.net/

Fangz MagazineEmotionull -

But in regards to the question about how artists can get interact with us, just feel free to reach out! We’re pretty friendly and always are down to help artists gain the shine that they deserve. We’re trying to get caught up on the interviews and rebranding that we have on the go, but if anyone wants to shoot us a dm or show off their work on our art share threads, that’s always an easy way to get our attention!

Read Fangz Magazine's recent interview with SNDAY:

Interview: Snday | Fangz Magazine

In this interview with SNDAY, learn more about the artist behind the screen. A traditional artist specializing in various mediums and experimenting with digital concepts.

Fangz MagazineMew -

Our main goal at Fangz is to give back to this community, art and cryptoart alike. We’ve been blessed to meet so many incredibly talented people, been blessed to have the support we do, and we want to give back. The community is only as good as we make it. We want people to realize that the people making art aren’t robots with avis, it’s real people with real inspirations behind their pieces.

In regards to the crypto art scene, we understand it can definitely be daunting for people to get involved. We have onboarded and sent minting ETH to 7+ artists who weren’t previously on any NFT sites, and some of these artists have even already recorded their first sales. We don’t touch any money that the artists make nor do we ask for anything in return; again, we just want to get more people involved, see more artists get their name out there, and help collectors discover some unrecognized talent. Fangz will always be for the people.

I think one of the biggest barriers that I’ve seen come from traditional artists when it comes to cryptoart is being viewed as an investment rather than an experience. It’s tough to come to terms when an artwork that you poured your heart into—everything you’re feeling no matter how good or bad that might be—will be viewed just for ROI instead of having that piece resonate with the viewer or having viewers be able to connect with it on some level. I’ve been told it's a little demoralizing to hear that collectors are only interested in choosing a piece that may yield the most profit. I know that purchasing an NFT is an investment and ROI is something to be considered, but that being the forefront and sole reason that some collectors focus on is a tough reality.

Along those lines, the running joke in my artist friend group is that we all have $50 dollars that we just pass around to each other buying prints/NFTs. Cryptoart gives us the chance to change this, we definitely need to step up our level of support for each other too. We got to get better for supporting each other in this too. It’s gonna be interesting to see what this may yield in the future, whether it may be artist run galleries or artist run archives.

What excites you most about your future with art? Where do you see yourself going? And what is Mew infinite art?

Honestly, everything. Each and every day I’m waking up with new ideas and trying to learn something new each day. I’ve surrounded myself with passionate people who only strive to get better. I’ve got goals to further myself in the cryptoart world and traditional art world (eg. sending pieces off to local galleries and proposals for AR piece exhibit). And I’ve got a list of things that I want to learn and hone in 2021.

This is just the beginning. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m on to something big here and I couldn’t be happier or more thankful. All I want to do this year really is work harder than I did this year, help others reach their true potential, and be better than I was this year. I was blessed this year in my artistic journey, I hope to further that and help others begin or further theirs. Another goal of mine is to figure out more ways to incorporate physicals with my NFTs. I’ve done prints in the past accompanying the NFTs, but I think I want to find a way to expand on that and possibly take that idea even further.

Ahh, Mew infinite art! I don’t think I’m allowed to go into much detail about that currently (oh my lord it’s killing me I hate keeping projects close to the vest) but all I can definitely say is expect it in Spring 2021.

This year is gonna be a good year. I can’t explain why, I can’t explain how, I just feel it.

Any shout outs?

Oh man, too many to list.

Everybody in our discord (@em0tionull, @alejdominic, @syhnical, @compIete, @AlhVcarD, @uploadspeed, @achdz_, @heyzeusart, @SHAUXRADIO,@itshamadsworld) that keeps me motivated and keeps my spirits up when life starts to get too much.

Big shoutout to Corey (@celestialaura) for helping me get my work to reach more people than I ever could have expected, all my Rottenboyz for supporting me since 2014, and my lovely girlfriend for putting up with me being at my computer for countless hours and hours. She’s not on social media so she probably is not gonna read this but bless her soul she’s got the patience of a saint.

Love to each and everyone of my fans, friends, family, collectors and supporters. I truly am beyond thankful for each and everyone of you. It’s awe inspiring to see how much you guys support me and it still doesn’t seem real to me. Mew loves all of you.

Notable past exhibitions / praise / press:

• zonted genesis exhibition
  1/1/2021—4/30-2021

The first ever ("genesis") digital art exhibition by zonted art gallery. The exhibition features sculptures, installations, videos, and digital creations by a wide array of notable international artists that are on the forefront of digital art.

Visit the exhibition here: https://www.cryptovoxels.com/parcels/3734

Support the artist:

• Website: https://www.mewpsd.net/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mew_psd
• KnownOrigin: https://knownorigin.io/mewpsd
• Rarible: https://app.rarible.com/mewpsd/onsale
• OpenSea: https://opensea.io/assets/mew-psd
• artistsourced: https://artistsourced.com/collections/mew-psd