Today I minted my annual self-portrait NFT, a continuation of an ongoing series with a uniquely 2020 twist.
You see, this piece was not created in my usual workflow and timeframe. Instead – appropriately enough for this very unusual year – it was created in increments over the course of nearly 10 months.
I began this self-portrait at the end of February, when we still had no idea about the global paradigm shift yet to come. I started with a method I have been developing since 2016 that I call “3D Paintings,” created with a combination of original stereoscopic photography and neural style transfer. I liked the outcome well enough, but felt it was time to push the style further.
Then, the coronavirus hit the states, we went into lockdown, and the piece sat unfinished for many months while I took time to reorient my nervous system to our new reality.
We had a brutally hot summer here in California, with an equally punishing fire season. I took to my summer desk, a small setup in our bedroom where I can lock myself in with an air purifier and AC. I began a series of experiments combining the slit-scanning technique I’ve been developing since 2016 with my stereoscopic photography.
I took another pass at the portrait, and loved the wavy warpiness this technique added to the depth. It felt particularly expressive of this tumultuous year, with its waves of one revelation after another. The Waves of Time keep coming, and it’s up to us to figure out how to surf them, lest we drown.
I liked the piece a lot, but still felt it needed something more.
I had a landmark Fall in crypto art. When I started minting limited editions of my early VHS pieces, I saw demand for my work skyrocket. I put a lot of time and thought into guiding the growth of my market. I forged relationships with new collectors, and put efforts toward championing new artists. I was commissioned to do portraits for Coindesk’s “Most Influential in 2020 List” (which are auctioning on NiftyGateway through Dec. 31). I’ve been working on pieces for the upcoming Future Art Show in January.
And all the while, this piece sat in the back of my mind, waiting to be finished.
I knew I would see her through to completion. Self-portraiture has been an important part of my practice for a VERY long time. Aside from just giving in to the natural solipsism of the artistic temperament, self-portraiture is important because it allows an artist to document the subject they are most familiar with long-term. They are artworks which provide a meta-narrative to contextualize all of the artist’s other works.
I took my first self-portrait at age 6, with my “Where’s Waldo” 110 camera that I had my dad remove the Waldo insert from, because it was impeding my artistic vision. I call it, “Self, Avec Pantaloons.”
Self, Avec Pantaloons. Age 6.
Self-documentation was a large strain in my film photography years from my mid-teens to mid-twenties. Little did I know I was getting a head start on a memetic expression that would come to dominate our culture with the advent of the smartphone.
Self-Portrait with SLR. Age 17.
And now, with crypto art, I have continued the tradition for a new era. One of my earliest 1/1 NFTs, and my first ever 1 ETH sale, was the first self-portrait in this series. “Self-Portrait of the Artist in Digital Decay” was minted on KnownOrigin on May 28, 2019, and sold shortly thereafter.
I created the next portrait in this series at the end of 2019. “Self-Portrait in Digital Decay, December 2019.” It was collected by the legendary crypto artist Coldie, one of my greatest champions in this space, on Christmas Day.
I did a lot of growing up in 2019, and I saw those two pieces as a reflection of that. The first one, from a photo taken in January where I’m done up in high drag, replete with statement earrings, sequin blouse and makeup for the gods, and then the second one, nude, no makeup – stripped down and honest.
And so now, we come to this year’s portrait, created THROUGH 2020. The image, taken in February, has now been incrementally distorted throughout the year. Just as this year has distorted the subject itself. And through that refraction, filtered through time, beauty has emerged. I may not be the same person I was in February. This year has changed me. But oh, what a glorious effect. I end the year more magnificent than ever.
I’ve been contemplating what to tokenize this month in the wake of the recent growth we’ve seen in the crypto art space. I have very much taken the idea of “create abundantly, tokenize thoughtfully” to heart. I have created a number of VERY cool things in my studio the past few months, pushing my work to new heights. And I find myself not wanting to reveal them before the time is right, which is new for me. The creation continues, but the sharing is happening in a much more measured way.
As I was going through my list of Works TBT (To-Be-Tokenized), I remembered this self-portrait, and I was seized by a renewed vigor to see her through to completion. I’ve been working on this day and night this week, adding the final components of upscaling a pixelsorting. Processes that seem simple enough, but require endless tinkering to get the look just right.
I often feel the term “glitch art” is too wide an umbrella for me. Because it’s easy to break things. VERY easy. But breaking things in a way that increases their beauty is quite a meticulous process – a bit “fiddly,” as they’d say on The Great British Bake-Off. It’s taken many years and a lot of intuition to develop my unique way of using the tools available to me. As I always say, “It’s the Witch, not the Wand.”
“It’s the Witch, Not the Wand.” Sarah Zucker, 2019.
I feel now that this piece is complete. I have imbued in her the same degree of depth and texture and color that I feel this year has imbued in me. There is something extra special in the fact that this piece, in being self-portraiture, combines so many of the styles and techniques I have been exploring and refining over the past 5 years. It is quintessentially “me.”
This will be a rare .mp4 release for me – while I typically tokenize my work in GIF format, I wanted to keep this as a video file so as not to lose any of the spectacular detail work. This will also be my first token sold through the new Reserve Auction format on SuperRare. The reserve is 5Ξ. When the reserve is met, the auction will automatically kick off a 24h timer, which resets if a new bid is placed.
Thank you all for coming on this journey with me. The incredible encouragement I’ve gotten from the crypto art community has truly changed my life and my approach to my art. The levels of creativity I see in this space inspire me to keep pushing my own art further and further. And the support from collectors has allowed me to immerse myself fully in my passion and trust in my own voice like never before. And for that, I am eternally grateful.