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defiantsquid | Artist at Mondoir

defiantsquid

Nationality: British

Discipline: Digital Painting and Animation

Born: 1989

Based in: Norwich, United Kingdom

Biography

I have been a visual artist and animator since I was a small child - always drawing, experimenting with cameras, and creating stories. Discovering creative tools like MS Paint at a young age began my fascination with technology and digital expression. Throughout college and university I focused on gaining skills in illustration, figure drawing, graphic design, photography, and sculpture - allowing the various processes of each to reveal final pieces to me. Here I built the foundations of my current practice: research-based project work with defined processes and timelines, giving me the freedom to intentionally disregard an end goal or result. I was fortunate enough to have had mentors who nurtured my interest in journey over destination, and encouraged a certain level of irreverence in my studies and sketchbooks. In 2016 I opened my own animation studio and quickly acknowledged that clients and budgets could not stop me experimenting in my own practice. The best way for me to keep producing art for the joy of it was a 'meditative' painting process, drawing from childhood experiences within a flow state. This approach, combined with a little art history knowledge and a pixel art aesthetic, led me to create pieces that were simultaneously inspired by Mondrian, Klee, et al. and video games from the 80s and 90s. The series was a watershed moment for me and helped to inform my painted pixel style over the next decade.

Artist Statement

Many of my pieces being life aligned to grids or an isometric perspective, breaking free of these arbitrary bounds as they progress. I play with an implied 'pixel resolution' - varying levels of blockiness that might occasionally bridge the gap between pixel art and neoplasticism. I consider visible brush strokes to be one of the most important distinctions between my work and any other kind of game art, and I make regular use of canvas- or screen-based effects to pull depth and textures out of these blocks of otherwise flat colour. My work has been described as process art, and I enjoy being as transparent about my workflow (or lack thereof) as I am about my inspiration. I regularly reference highly personal memories or objects in my abstract work, leaving them fragmented within a piece and left open to interpretation. I adore giving viewers an opportunity to bring their own experiences and prejudices to a piece of abstract art, as well as hearing opinions from peers and strangers about how my work makes them feel which is often wildly different to what I expected. This is a creative freedom I have not experienced with figurative work. I discovered programmable on-chain art in 2020, and have since created a number of interactive pieces on platforms like Async Art and Transient Labs. These artworks are changed by time or user input, and can be seen as a further expansion of my overall process i.e. creating initial frameworks and allowing a project to take on a life of its own, in this case through audience participation.

Exhibitions

My objective for 2025 was to exhibit, on average, once per month for the year. Below are the 14 shows I was a part of. Dec 25 | Art Basel, Miami | Cult of Crypto Art invades Art Basel Oct 25 | Art Blocks Marfa, Texas | CRYPTOART V12.0, curated by ArtBees Oct 25 | Custom House, Edinburgh - EXPOS3D, curated by Trevor Jones Sept 25 | Craiova Jazz Festival - CRYPTOART V10.0, curated by ArtBees Aug 25 | RGBMTL, Montréal - RGBMTL, curated by OMGiDRAWEDit Jun 25 | Unfold Gallery, New York - UNDERGROUND XI, curated by ArtBees Jun 25 | Arta 2 Gallery, Romania - UNDERGROUND X, curated by ArtBees Jun 25 | NFC Summit, Lisbon - Cult of Crypto Art exhibition curated by Jaen Jun 25 | NFC Summit, Lisbon - Cult Elevation Show curated by Ogar May 25 |Arta 2 Gallery, Romania - UNDERGROUND VIII, curated by ArtBees Apr 25 | Arta 2 Gallery, Romania - UNDERGROUND VII, curated by ArtBees Feb 25 | ArtVerse Gallery, Paris - pour la CULTURE, curated by ArtBees/CoCA Feb 25 | Cambridge Arts Festival - Time To Shine, curated by CamCreatives Jan 25 | NOX Gallery, Tokyo - Cult of Crypto Art exhibition curated by ArtBees In December 2022 I put on a solo show and book launch event at Mandell's Gallery in Norwich, to promote my self-published book, Adventures In Cryptoart. https://x.com/DefiantSquid/status/1598283577787322368 https://x.com/DefiantSquid/status/1599725754287550466 For more please visit defiantsquid.art/about

Awards

Mint Gold Dust articles https://www.mintgolddust.com/blog/2024/07/26/resurfacing-memory-the-intricate-depths-of-defiantsquids-resolutions/ https://www.mintgolddust.com/curations/27/ NonFunGerbils podcast https://nonfungerbils.com/podcast/lisbon25-defiantsquid Async Art spotlight/interviews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJcwdQUoxNk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfGKpKGRaIw Mol LeArt article https://molleart.substack.com/p/decaying-royalties-explained

Education

BTEC Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, Reading College BA (Hon)s Illustration & Animation, Cambridge School of Art Diploma in Advanced Character Animation Production, AnimationMentor

Artworks by defiantsquid