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- What does your genesis artwork mean to you today?

It's been a little over seven years since I made PEPEBRICK at which time the pre-NFT "Blockchain-Art" scene was a small, intimate, and intimidating space to enter. I was overly self-critical and anxious that my work wouldn't be understood or appreciated, a feeling reflected by the line 'First I was afraid, I was Petrified' subtly placed within the artwork. Despite this I was determined that my genesis artwork should stand out and realised that aside from a couple of drawings nobody had actually made a physical Rare Pepe. I decided to build PEPEBRICK from Lego as this felt like a fun and contemporary medium which seemed to fit the spirit of Rare Pepe perfectly. In direct contrast to my pre-release trepidation PEPEBRICK was enthusiastically received with praise and positivity across the Rare Pepe community, gilding my confidence, and lighting the way for future artworks. When I look at PEPEBRICK today I see a seven-year journey of self-acceptance and personal validation as an artist, cemented by the stellar community of friends, peers, mentors, and collectors I have had the fortune of meeting along the way.    

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- What was a significant event that happened in the 10-year history of Blockchain art that influenced you as an artist?

Rare Pepes on Counterparty - this changed the focus of my artistic life and expanded the opportunities available to me. I first became aware of Blockchainized Pepes in around October '16, at this point I was around 2 - 3 years into Bitcoin and spent most evenings hanging out in various forums and sub-reddits working on small scale commissions and design tasks for tiny amounts of Bitcoin. I was pretty early into the Counterparty game Spells Of Genesis, and one day my main SOG card reseller introduced me to the world of Rare Pepe. I was instantly fascinated, I finished everything else I was working on, and from that point the majority of my artistic focus shifted to Pepe. I can't explain exactly why the draw to Pepe and Blockchain was so powerful, probably the likeminded, brilliantly funny community, or the feeling of cultural significance and belonging. Either way seven years later I still choose to put most of my time and efforts into making frog memes and meeting up with an ever-growing number of dedicated Artists around the world who do the same. Something I absolutely would not have been able to do in the pre-blockchain art world. 

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- What message(s) are you sharing in your new {R(Evolutionaries);} artwork?

The piece I am working on for R(Evolutionaries) acts as a metaphorical bookend to my genesis work PEPEBRICK. Using the same subject to convey the artistic journey I have been on over the past seven years, a path illuminated by community acceptance and personal validation. In direct contrast to where I was at the time of PEPEBRICK, the new artwork looks to convey where I feel I sit today as an Artist, and the armour of 'gilded confidence' built up during my time in this space. 

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