Jarvinart NFT artist interview
Born in 1997, Idil Dursun (a.k.a. Jarvinart), is an architect, graduated from Bilkent University Department of Architecture in 2020. She worked as the Art Director of the university radio “Radio Bilkent ” while in school. In 2020, she worked with Dr. Pinar Yoldas and contributed to the Venice Biennale Architettura 2021. In September 2020, she began her professional career as a CGI Artist in the architectural visualization company “ivaBOX”. Since then, she has also been working on personal projects, creating mostly cyberpunk/dystopian environment concepts and building her own universe as a vision of the future world. In March 2021, she jumped into the NFT scene and since then has been an active member of the community. She is the curator of the ” Architecture World” in one of the most recognized NFT platforms Foundation. Her works are featured in United States based science fiction magazine “Dark Matter Magazine”, displayed in United States based “The Crypt Gallery”, Italy based “Dart Museum – Permanente di Milano”, United States based “Pellas Gallery” and exhibited on “FUTR World Abu Dhabi 2021”. She is one of the TIMEPieces artists that contributed to the Slices of TIME collection in 2022.
Finder her art here:
- https://superrare.com/jarvinart
- https://niftygateway.com/profile/jarvinart/collections
- https://foundation.app/@jarvinart
- https://makersplace.com/jarvinart/
Where are you from? (Provide a little bit of your background, have you moved etc)
I was born and raised in Turkey. I have never moved and actually been living in the same house for almost 17 years hahaha.
Can you tell us about your background and what lead you down the path to becoming an artist and ultimately experimenting with NFTs?
I was into art my whole life and wanted to be an architect since my childhood. I used to sketch with charcoals and paint -mostly landscapes- with acrylics. I was always into video games and cyberpunk culture, massive buildings and dystopic scenaries. When I was in highschool, I started playing World of Warcraft, which had an enormous impact of my decision of being a concept artist. I studied architecture in college and when I was in my 2nd or 3rd year, I decided that I like the concept design/visualization part the most about my architecture study, I basically hated dealing with physics and following strict rules. During my senior year, I started playing with shapes and lights to learn creating cyberpunk scenaries. After college, I started working in an architectural visualization office, which I owe most of my software and technical knowledge at this moment and began building my own futuristic world concepts. My journey with NFTs started quite soon after this point, it was approximately 7 months later that I was officially working as a CGI artist.
When did you mint your first NFT? What platform did you choose and why?
I have minted my first NFT back in March 2021. A good friend of mine reached out to me and told me all about NFTs, which I had no idea what it was back then. The next day he sent me a Foundation invitation which were really hard to get. I didn’t actually choose a platform but I feel glad that I got my chance to mint on Foundation, I still think its the best platform for a 1/1 artist to get started with NFTs. I am forever grateful to that friend of mine, Yagiz Kocabiyik, for basically changing my life.
Can you tell us one thing you cannot live without? (and why)
I cannot live without my loved ones. My family, close friends and my boyfriend. This may sound like a cheesy answer but they are my anchor within all these craziness. I can’t possibly protect my sanity without them.
Who is your favorite artist(s) (Non NFT)? What about their style resonates with you?
I have too many! Cannot possibly list them all but to mention a few I would say Annibale Siconolfi, Anthony Eftekhari, Dangiuz, Raphael Lacoste, Eytan Zana, Thomas Dubois, Paul Chadeisson, Syd Mead, Dylan Cole, Wojtek Fus and so many more. They are all incredible concept artists, mostly working with environments and cyberpunk/sci-fi styles, which is obviously my soft spot. Usually the first thing I do before I start a new piece is to look for inspiration on Artstation and my personal reference library, I get inspired from these mentioned artists a lot. Each have their own unique style which I love about them the most.
Who is your favourite NFT artist? What makes this artist unique?
I would say Annibale Siconolfi. He’s not just my biggest inspiration but he’s also very down to the earth and helpful. I have been following Annibale on social media since when I was in highschool and I remember how fascinating seeing his art back then, he really has a huge impact on me pursuing concept art now. That’s when you know there’s something special with an artist, when they actually pave the way for others without even noticing, just by their art.
What made you pursue NFT art?
Frankly, when I first decided to give it a shot I didn’t even really know what NFTs were. I remember Beeple’s legendary sale a month back before I minted my first work but that was basically it. My friend who told me about NFTs also had just a little knowledge back then, we were all experimenting with a completely strange new reality I guess. I thought
NFTs might be a chance to make some money off my passion but I never really imagined how far I could go and how infinite the possibilities are with it. The more I learned about NFTs and its culture, the more I loved it and worked super hard to success. I genuinely feel blessed to be part of this community.
What is the one piece of NFT art you wish you had purchased but missed out on?
Haha there are so many! I regret missing out of a great deal of NFT projects and fine art that I missed but I would say my biggest regret is the “Where My Vans Go” by Drift. I am a huge fan of Drift’s works since the first time I’ve seen his art and I was actually lucky enough to mint a genesis WMVG piece the first day it got out. You see I don’t normally flip my NFTs, almost never, I tend to keep all of them since I somehow get connected with them. I really don’t remember what pushed me that day or what I was thinking but I sold my WMVG piece for 1 eth. Although I got a World of Women NFT with that money, that is probably my biggest regret in my NFT journey.
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Why this location?
Netherlands to see my boyfriend. Also USA cuz’ I’ve never been there and I’ve been some amazing f*ckin people based on there since last year.
What are your other passions besides art? Why?
Hanging out with my friends, playing video games and listening A7X.
Do you make other forms of art?
I am trying to improve myself with illustrations lately. I got an iPad and Procreate is super fun to play with, I experiment with portraits when I have some free time. I am also very ambitious of learning other softwares which sometimes leads me to play around and trying to learn sculpting in Zbrush.
How did you come up with your specific style?
Cyberpunk/Dystopic environments always fascinated me, cannot explain why but I love when I can feel the atmosphere and vibes around all those huge buildings and vibrant cyan lights. After many years of me following amazing environment concept artists on Instagram and Artstation, solely looking at them wasn’t enough and since I already love designing I went ahead and tried to create them myself. My own specific style usually includes many, many buildings and millions of little pretty lights that blends them all together. I guess it developed over time, cannot specify an exact moment that I come up with that idea. Although, as one of my previous interviewers Caroline pointed out once, it shows great similarity to my old landscape acrylic paintings where I usually had tons of little stars in the sky, just like the little lights of my cityscapes I create right now.
What is coming in the near future?
Honestly I’m thinking of having a little break on April and experiment with new ideas without any new project pressure. I have some scheduled projects for the upcoming months which I cannot give any specifics right now. I guess its safe to say I will be having another Nifty Gateway collection though, since I have a long term plan for the upcoming collections that I’ve been working on for months about all the mechanics connected with my first collection: “Go Up and Never Stop”. For now I am just very excited that I have some free time to try out new techniques and softwares that I have been willing to experiment for so long. Oh also, a new SuperRare drop is probably close since I haven’t been minting there for quite some time.
If you could collaborate with one artist who would it be?
Last time I answered this question my answer was Drift and Annibale Siconolfi. I had the pleasure to do a collaboration with Drift on the “Slices of TIME” collection of TIMEPieces. If we both can align our schedules sometime, I would really love to collaborate with Annibale.
Do you have any upcoming drops?
Probably a new SuperRare drop on April/May and another edition drop for a collection coming up in June.
Where can collectors find your work?
SuperRare, Nifty Gateway, Foundation MakersPlace and Kolectiv.
Social links:
https://www.instagram.com/jarvinart/
NFT marketplace links:
