With my art I am able to generate the part of me that I am not able to be.
Contrary to my art, I am not a living, breathing embodiment of these wild, provocative, and visual explorations. I am not able to be like what these are able to for me. I am introspective, quiet, and an introvert. I have a very dry sense of humor that I suppose is fairly evident ... to me. My art is the part of me that craves to be heard, to express myself, to generate a self-portrait of my inner clown for the world to see, in bold and unapologetic strokes.
Most of my work is created with code to produce graphic outputs based on a set of algorithms. This generative style has many patterns including long form which is closely tied to a blockchain and then many other variations that are ultimately tokenized on the blockchain with decentralized persistence.
Depending on the collection or piece I am creating I may choose different technologies including Javascript, Python, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), bash, HTML/CSS, Node.js, and Solidity. There are benefits and boundaries when choosing different patterns which may steer me to make different choices depending on which arena I am playing in. One approach is not necessarily better than another, and I like to experiment across the possibilities to see what I can create.
I also play guitar and in the same way as I might create music the genesis for a lot of my work comes from riffing. I may try a little bit of something new, feel it out, add some more, pivot, layer in some foundational pieces, and continue until there is something I am happy with. When you are working with generative art you have unique outputs for each test run. I can tell when I am approaching the end of the collection when I am sad that some of these test results will never be seen again.
My mother painted with oils as a hobby. At some age I picked up her paint box and began to dabble. I painted with oils, acrylics, enamels, and rattle cans to pass the time. While I continued to paint, I have sometimes gone long periods without picking up the fan brush and rattle cans. My style matured to become untidy which sounds like a paradox. I think that also comes through in my generative and digital pieces. They aren't tidy.
In school we had a computer class where we learned Logo which allows you to program a turtle icon's movement around as a pen to draw. While my peers were drawing boxes, I was creating wild fractal-like objects with recursion. I wouldn't have my own personal computer until the first year in engineering at college. I think now of all of the things I would have done if I had known that I could have done them and had the means at a younger age.
I went through several programs in college including Computer Science and Information Systems, but I also included design and art. As an early developer in the web, I did full stack including also front-end graphic design. Over time my career led me to technical architecture and eventually into leadership and executive level positions.
Then came generative art. I've always been a bit into crypto, but really more into blockchains than markets. I began to write my own contracts and discover the generative processes that had emerged in web3. It feels like such a good fit to exercise the technical muscles and have the ultimate creative delivery channel.
I really just do it because I love to see the outputs... I'm still that kid making crazy shapes.