Where are you from?
I am an artist from India and have been living in this beautiful valley/ city called Dehradun in Uttarakhand. It is a small city covered with mountains from all sides. Though I was born in Yamunanagar, Haryana my parents shifted to Dehradun as the situation for a girl child in that state wasn’t suitable for my upbringing.
Can you tell us about your background and what lead you down the path to becoming an artist and ultimately experimenting with NFTs?
I started my artistic journey 6 years back when I decided to pursue Fashion as my undergraduate course in my educational journey. I did fashion communication which taught me my language of art and design.
I always loved fashion but didn’t like the idea of trends. Then I dived deep into the history of art and fashion, just to understand how both co-existed because many designers derived their ideas from art itself. My personal body of work was always derived from stories, for example, my concept “The White Spectrum” talks about age being the spectrum of color. When we get old, white becomes the color of our life, and that color is an amalgamation of 7 colors of life we lived and cherished ( VIBGYOR ). I follow the same process for all of my work, be it digital or fashion because this gives me joy and meaning in my creation.
Me entering into NFTs was a stroke of luck, where I was trying to understand how I can sell my work because till now I was just creating it. One of my friends told me about it and then I did my research on the same. I still remember that day when I took my savings out and used the money to mint and list my work knowing the money might never return, and that’s the first risk I took in my NFT journey.
Link to Website:
NFT marketplace links:
When did you mint your first NFT? What platform did you choose and why?
My first NFT was minted on September 6th, 2021, on foundation. I choose foundation because I enjoyed the auction process and how the platform displayed the art. It was a total bliss to see my first bid war on my first NFT. Later the same piece went to the NFT liver pool and the frame was selected by Paris Hilton.
Visuals, I always loved the idea of visuals that preserve an experience and time. Movies, songs videos, theatres, pictures everything that preserved or make you experience a story always gave me goosebumps. That’s also the reason I choose to follow image-making while I create visuals narratives.
Who is your favourite artist(s) (Non-NFT)? What about their style resonates with you?
My favourite artist is an Indian Photographer Ashish Shah. He has a set of aesthetics that are simple yet meaningful. It taught me how to emphasise details and body language. I also started to admire him way more after working with him for a shoot in my city. He was phenomenal with how he took control and shot all the frames on film, while directing the models.
If you have a sense of control then things always turn our phenomenal and also keep other artists calm, so that was his persona throughout.
Who is your favorite NFT artist? What makes this artist unique?
I do have three favorite artists in this space one is Sasha Katz @wonderkatzi, Fer Caggiano @FerCaggianoArt and Otto @otto_kind. All three artists are my favorite as I admire them for different reasons. Truly it is hard to choose as this space is filled with gems but then Sasha, Fer and Otto always attracted me to their craft and process of creation.
Sasha’s art style made me question the narrative and I found that truly intriguing to understand and dive deep into her art.
Fer art has a sense of unity, and comfort for me. It shows years of work and practice. Thus, I always admired her for her skill set and art style.
Otto and I always shared a same process of story telling in different mediums. From him I always got a sense of happiness as I searched a world of colours in his art.
What made you pursue NFT art?
A dream, I always lived in India and I somehow knew that if I dream to see art I need to travel and learn. This wasn’t something I could simple achieve financially, so I started to figure out ways that can help me share my art on a global scale . With the same goal, I started to pursue NFTs. The more I will learn about art, the more I can see a future of dreams plus educate the next generation to come.
What is the one piece of NFT art you wish you had purchased but missed out on?
World of Women or let’s say a WOW, as I was a bit late to enter the space and I would have loved to own one.
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Why this location?
Norway to see the aurora borealis because I feel once I see this I will be aligned with the emotions of our beautiful nature. For me it’s the palette of nature in colors that can touch one’s soul, so why not embrace that art as well. Plus I love watching clouds as an escapism and it makes me want to fly as the clouds move slowly around.
What are your other passions besides art? Why?
Dancing, I love to dance and how the body flows with it. While dancing I always felt free and it gave me a sense of confidence while performing it. I feel dance was my first art performance as a child, where I did overcome the fear of stage, crowd, and judgment.
Do you make other forms of art?
Yes, I am a diverse artist so I create 2D illustrations and pictures. I never liked to limit myself to one zone of creation and thus I keep experimenting while sharing the same persona in the NFT space. So I do sell both of my art styles if I am happy with the creation of it.
How did you come up with your specific style?
By making mistakes, I think thats the key for any artist to figure things out. You need to understand, make mistakes and analyze to see what and how you do it. Once you figure out this key you will see that your aesthetics are defined. Unlearning and accepting your imperfections is the process because I feel imperfections create beautiful art when one can use that energy.
My style is always very story-centric or a concept that I have been working on as it takes me 3 to 4 months to create one story. I simply go by the same pattern that in the end, it gives a sense of emotional connection for a 2nd viewer. My art isn’t beautiful frames but visuals that will narrate a story. I always called myself an image maker as that’s what I am, while I create meaning in every frame of art.
How has your style evolved over the years?
By experimenting, truly. Fashion has always been my visual direction as it gave me space to think and understand art, and thus I kept on experimenting in the same direction. Trying to understand and evolve in fashion made me understand my path was different all along and since then I have been experimenting with my vision and personal body of work.
Just art, thats the only vision I have. I never thought I will be able to sell or share my art with such a wider audience but through NFTs, I got the chance to carry on. So yes in the upcoming journey you will see more stories that will define some key words of our lives – emotions, culture and colours.
If you could collaborate with one artist who would it be?
If I get a chance to collaborate with one artist then it would be Dolce Paganne @DolcePaganne as she is someone who creates a nightmare while I bring stories alive in frames of real life. I would love see how we both create art together with these two mindsets. Imagine a story of a realm with her nightmares and my reality.
Do you have any upcoming drops?
Yes! I just did a drop on Foundation called “Her Legacy”. This shoot is based on how a mother shares her legacy with her daughter, as she goes from one family to another building her legacy. The outfits used are also a legacy of my family and I tried to elevate the same with my vision. This shoot took me 4 months of preparation, as I hunted for the right wedding hall, cars and got the costumes done while assembling the team for the shoot. Also, I pay my artists as I create profit from my sales as well.
“A legacy share and a legacy told”
The biggest piece sold?
Gulaab ka Sehra from Her Legacy that is collected by Fer and is sold for 0.6 ETH
What was your greatest failure and what did you learn from that?
Greatest failure! I felt there are many and every time a failure teaches me to get up. I always tell myself, “What will happen if I choose to not give up?” and this thought just converts all the negativity into a light where I see all this as a process of life and growth. Also, that’s how my name is PhoenixFawkes25, as I try to rise from the ashes after every failure.
Anything else you’d like to share?
To everyone who sees my interview, “Don’t try to be perfect in this imperfect world rather embrace the flaws and wear them with pride”.
Being an artist is a mind set not a career choice. So keep evolving with that mind set and observe your emotions.