Cloudynight and I have been close friends in the space ever since the “beginning” of my NFT journey (which was admittedly just earlier this year, although it feels like 5 years ago). His night photography always blew me away and we also had an instant sense of camaraderie from the fact that we were two of the only native-English speaking artists in the Korean community (accompanied by a similar sense of humor).
Being that I already combine most of my digital paintings with 35mm film photography for texture, the idea of collaborating with both a close friend as well as a great photographer was a no-brainer. While his photos are almost entirely all night photography cityscape shots, he had posted a single self portrait shot (his only one, he described) a few months back which was striking to me in its composition, setting, and execution.
Although we did not have this photo in the initial pool of photos to consider for collaboration, the idea grew on me and even moreso after hearing the backstory: it was at an extremely low point in his life, and intended to be the last photo of his photography career. Thankfully, it was not, and given Cloudy’s consistent rise in the space, it is clear that the moment was a necessary catalyst to realize a more upward trajectory.
I drew and animated my favorite type of tree, the Korean pine, starting from the base of his spine and ultimately peering over his head, to express the sense of invisible support and guidance that I imagined gradually formed around him after that moment that led him to this point. The balance of yin and yang, an idea that seeps into my artwork, is expressed through this theme of dark / light, visible / invisible- and the fact that the lowest is sometimes necessary to achieve the highest.
The title was taken from the the phrase Camera Obscura, the oldest form of pinhole camera– and in this context, Obscura means “darkroom”, inside which images are projected from the outside world via a pinhole aperture. In our animation, we used the silhouette of the tree trunk as the “pinhole”, and Cloudy animated the inside with a peek of his current nightscape photos.
New drop: OBSCURA
Cloudynight and I have been close friends in the space ever since the “beginning” of my NFT journey (which was admittedly just earlier this year, although it feels like 5 years ago). His night photography always blew me away and we also had an instant sense of camaraderie from the fact that we were two of the only native-English speaking artists in the Korean community (accompanied by a similar sense of humor).
Being that I already combine most of my digital paintings with 35mm film photography for texture, the idea of collaborating with both a close friend as well as a great photographer was a no-brainer. While his photos are almost entirely all night photography cityscape shots, he had posted a single self portrait shot (his only one, he described) a few months back which was striking to me in its composition, setting, and execution.
Although we did not have this photo in the initial pool of photos to consider for collaboration, the idea grew on me and even moreso after hearing the backstory: it was at an extremely low point in his life, and intended to be the last photo of his photography career. Thankfully, it was not, and given Cloudy’s consistent rise in the space, it is clear that the moment was a necessary catalyst to realize a more upward trajectory.
I drew and animated my favorite type of tree, the Korean pine, starting from the base of his spine and ultimately peering over his head, to express the sense of invisible support and guidance that I imagined gradually formed around him after that moment that led him to this point. The balance of yin and yang, an idea that seeps into my artwork, is expressed through this theme of dark / light, visible / invisible- and the fact that the lowest is sometimes necessary to achieve the highest.
The title was taken from the the phrase Camera Obscura, the oldest form of pinhole camera– and in this context, Obscura means “darkroom”, inside which images are projected from the outside world via a pinhole aperture. In our animation, we used the silhouette of the tree trunk as the “pinhole”, and Cloudy animated the inside with a peek of his current nightscape photos.
Presenting: OBSCURA, an edition of 10 on Known Origin!