A new art normal
Pretoria based digital artist, Lethabo Huma talks about crypto art. An emerging genre where digital artwork is regarded the same way as physical art. Lethabo expresses how being a part of the Non-fungible token (NFT) space makes her feel valued as an artist.
NFT has enabled digital artists to sell their work on a platform where there was not much of a market for. The blockchain provides a feature that allows artists to get paid a percentage every time their art is sold or changes hands. Making sure that when their work becomes popular or increases in value, they will reap those benefits.
Creativity as a spiritual practice
Artistic expression forms the living bridge between the everyday psychology of our minds and the universal spirit of humanity. We see artists create and value art when we get to experience a world where this becomes more than just a visual.
“Art is important to me because it keeps me alive. I’ve always been a child who was into arts so I don’t know how it would feel without it. Art plays such an important role in my life that I feel down or lost when I’m not creating.” Shares the artist.
Lethabo uses art as a medium to express herself and has been a professional artist for five years. Her creativity stemming from the influences of her grandmother, who inspired her at a young age to become involved in DIY projects.
Where do you look for inspiration when you’re creating?
The self-taught artist uses YouTube as her teacher. Browsing through social media allowed Lethabo to discover a new world of art where she felt most at home. Stumbling upon other digital artists such as Alexis Franklin who have had an influence in her creative process.
“I have always been drawn to creating digital paintings that mimic the style of traditional paint and Alexis Franklin’s work is like that. Her work has a major influence on my work; the idea is to create work that doesn’t feel “flat” and rather gives the illusion of texture”.
Lethabo sees her work as her own visual diary where she visualises her mental and emotional responses to life. With themes centred around storytelling, she creates artwork that documents her view of the human experience of her muses.
“What I look for in a photograph is the expression of the subject then I build various elements of my style on top of that. The muses I use embody or represent the emotion or subject I want to create a story with”.
New Beginnings
The 777 exhibition being a perfect arena for the artist to share her artwork with the rest of the world. During the global lockdown in 2020, Lethabo collaborated with MoCDA and Indivisual gallery to exhibit her work in a virtual gallery. A relatively new space where digital artists can share and sell their work through the blockchain. Lethabo’s journey as an emerging digital artist continues as she previously exhibited her work at the Sotheby’s and Christie’s in May and June. The artist plans to release a new project with UniLondon which we can expect this July.
