Artist Feature: Espinosa
Espinosa was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador and moved to the United States when he was 20, almost ten years ago. He’s interested in many things, which is both a blessing and a curse. In his art practice he attempt to harness his many interests to speak about being mestizo, about psychedelics and non-ordinary states of consciousness, about being a child of the internet, about spirituality, remix culture, and our collective meaning-making mechanisms. Also the occasional shitpost…
It’s hard to be active in the Tezos artist ecosystem without knowing Espinosa. A perpetual observer and thoughtful truth speaker, he is passionate about the intersection of spirituality and digital art in relation to Web3 technology. With a focus on Glitch Art aesthetic and remix ethos, his work breaks down internal barriers in viewers opening their minds up to transcend to new levels of consciousness. I’m grateful to have followed Espinosa’s crypto art journey closely through which we have become friends and which he graciously agreed to be interviewed.
How/why do you do art?
I make art because I can’t help myself. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be singing or playing an instrument or drawing or acting or having some kind of aesthetic or transcendent experience.
I’m deeply inspired by Nature, which I see as the ultimate source of everything. I have had profound experiences with psychedelics, particularly when used in religious/ceremonial contexts where mystical visions can be had. So I seek out artists that make work that feels like it is pulling from that dimension. Or those dimensions. Glitch artists, particularly those inclined towards representing the hidden, the unseen, the in-between, the weird, and the colorful. There’s too many to name but I’m happy to say almost all of the artists that inspire me are making cryptoart.
I use many different tools in my work including but not limited to: digital animation, sound design, music production, music and video sampling, analog video glitch processes, photography, AI/ML models for text-to-image generation, and poetry.
What got you started in crypto and nfts?
I was studying motion graphics design when I found out about Beeple selling art using crypto and that peaked my interest because I was already into Bitcoin and the narrative at the time was that this was in the same ethos. I know understand that the market forces and dynamics are far from the ideal and I actually see many glaring issues with what we’ve come to call “Web3” but I stick around because of the art and the many people that are actually here to manifest something better for creators.
How would you define crypto art?
Digital or digitized art that utilizes blockchain technology either as a medium or as a mechanism of distribution/documentation and that references internet/tech culture in some way.
How does spirituality play a role in your work?
Spirituality is the foundation of my work because I believe the basis of reality is spiritual. I believe in a metaphysical reality that underpins the cosmos. My work has the undercurrent of being a search for a means to transcend duality, at the personal level. Cultural alchemy, as I call it. Cybermagick. Digital occultism. Numbers are signs.
Favorite NFT story?
Meeting Beeple at SXSW with you and Wondermundo and then sneaking in to see Foodmasku perform was definitely one of the highlights of this whole journey so far.
3 artists you love in crypto art and why and 3 artists you derive inspiration from
It’s really hard to pick just 3 but here we go:
Sky Goodman, Dawnia Darkstone A.K.A Letsglitchit, and Ellie Pritts
All of them in cryptoart. All of them incredibly inspiring. Experimentation, mixing media, narrative-driven, glitchtastic, and enchanting work. All of it weird too! In the best possible sense.
Where do you see the future of crypto art going?
This is a mystery. Many people give up understandably. I’ve wanted to quit multiple times. There’s a lot of negative stuff in this space. And I think it is important to acknowledge that. There’s some criticism of NFTs that is very much valid out there. But I am ultimately hopeful that we will continue to carve out goodness out of it as we already have in many different ways. So I am ultimately hopeful. And maybe one day I can make this my main source of income haha
Notable Exhibitions
///threshold/// – Teia Community Exhibition during NFT NYC curated by Andressa Furletti in Brooklyn, NY
analog video glitch trash 3 -Fylth Trash Art Exhibition in Los Ángeles, California
techno-feudalism chic – a collaboration with the artist/photographer known as Flynn, which is in the Tezos Foundation’s Permanent Collection
Links To Explore Espinosa’s Work Further
