Meet Drea Jay AKA Empress Trash. She is a visual artist & nomad with her rottweiler Glitch; A survivor of childhood prostitution and other extreme abuses from a Schizophrenic mother; Emancipated at the age of 13 to build a life of her own; Has poured her beautiful soul into her incredible art, and now, has a few things to share.
For Empress, art is a safe space to mentally escape and heal from a highly isolated and oppressive upbringing. Her work allows for connection to others/society as a whole, while searching for inner and outward freedom. You can feel every bit of this -and more- in her work.
As a versatile artist, Empress embraces abstraction, surrealism, trash and glitch art. Utilizing radical expressionism and self-acceptance, she aims to further her journey of self discovery. She believes in peeling back the veneer of reality to allow for exploration of the subconscious meta connections between the emotional, physical, mental, sexual and spiritual realms. She sees a clear path to confronting shame, and shining a light on subconscious realities.
A considerable portion of her work is animated mixed-media, utilizing digital works with traditional mediums. Empress also has the ability to embrace the humor of it all, and aims to uplift the spirit. She shares, “The act of creation is divine and should be celebrated and revered as such.” An energetic and notable work of hers is Glass Ceiling Disco, and while this piece is available on Known Origin, she also makes her work available on multiple platforms to allow pieces to be minted and collected at a variety of price ranges.
Drea/Empress believes elitism in art is a toxic concept and detrimental to humanity as a whole. She entered the NFT scene because she truly believes, with a healthy amount of intentionality, infinite potential is possible; A conduit for radical social change, international community building and the future of art. Since March 2021, she has co-founded the communities Fam Jam, Smol Movement and Collectors Crew, has vocally supported the uplifting of women, non-binary, PoC, LGBTQ and Sex Workers within the space and is an active participant in DOS Punks DAO.
Much of this interview is in her own words. Empress is incredibly thoughtful, and well-spoken; An absolute joy, and I suspect, will become a mainstay in the NFT space for years to come. Her art communicates far beyond the illustrations. Damsels, a collection of Empress’ has been an intentionally slow release and carries a message of inclusion and social justice. Empress’ works are also somewhat autobiographical, as each tells a bit of her story. She also gives 10% of all proceeds go to BAWS, a peer led oganization lendng aid and resources to sex workers.
She co-hosts Twitter spaces Trash {Art} Talk with @Wondermundo every Tuesday, Collectors Crew with @VeeColeman and a rotating pool of women and non-binary collectors every other Wednesday, and frequents LGBTQ/Body Positive spaces hosted by @kylegold and @octomint every Thursday and DOS Punk Spaces with @maxcapacity and @greencrosslive every Friday.
Ashley_NFT