the drowning man

welcome to issue #17 of moments, our bi-weekly newsletter. if you’re new here, this is the space where we share product updates, highlights from our community, and a curation of our favorite gems.

icymi, we launched one of our biggest product updates this week: an all-new way to be rewarded for your taste. what else? we hit 40,000 gems minted on primitives, have more community calls on tap, and got to chat with a pseudonymous artist.

this week’s featured creator is harlem-based artist, the drowning man (@drowning). our community manager sydney recently sat down with him to chat about his passion for storytelling, the origin of his name, and tempering inherent judgment as an artist. the drowning man also took us through his past and present art practices, inspiration sources, and balancing the pressures of showcasing his work.

where are you from and when did you get into art?

i'm a harlem, new york native. i've always been an artist, i actually like to say i've always been a storyteller. storytelling is just a matter of what medium i have available. i started with sketches and drawing, messed around with charcoal, acrylic, and watercolor.

where did your name the drowning man come from?

in 2018 i started painting again out of an emotional crisis and i made a painting to try to encapsulate exactly what i was feeling, which felt like i was was being immersed in water. the piece that i made was called “the drowning man.” i adopted the name and persona of that piece. when i go out, in shows in public, i wear a mask and that’s just part of me trying to keep painting separate from the other mediums that i work in. i didn’t want people to either like or dislike my work because they knew me as another kind of artist or anything else.

what’s your source of inspiration?

sometimes it can come out of feeling stagnant. for example, after working on canvas a lot, i got bored and wanted to see what else i can do on other surfaces. a lot of my work is emotional and tied to what i might be feeling at the time, whether it's social commentary or just something personal.

what has the experience of showcasing your work been like?

since i “started taking it seriously,” there's always that aspect of getting caught up in making your work good enough for something. it’s hard not to think, “i need to make something good enough to get into one of those chelsea galleries” or “i haven't done enough shows” or even something mundane like “this didn't get a lot of engagement on social media.” i try to ground myself by keeping it low stakes and not carry the pressure of thinking i have to make this amount of money, get this kind of exposure, or get into this gallery.

some of that still creeps in, but i try to keep that to a minimum. don't get hung up on stuff like that. just make the best work that you can.

what's your hope for people who see your work?

i don't try to put much expectations on how people receive the work. i’m a storyteller, so i'm doing stuff to tell an intended story. when i'm painting, it's very personal. then when you give it to people they can absorb it however it is they absorb it.

i try not to be too specific in telling people what something means or should mean — i'm more interested in how people receive it than telling them what i was trying to convey.

this was a huge week for our team – we launched an all-new rewards-based collecting experience. we like to think of it a little like building a game around a cultural index – with one click you’re now able to see trending gems and build your reputation towards unlocking new features down the line 👀

a quick summary of news:

• points are here 📈 – the all-new way to get rewarded for your taste. earn points by being early to collect trending gems, grow your status, and more

• 40,000 gems 🚀 - we just hit our 40,000th gem minted this week. in case you were wondering, it was a stunning photo of cows

• community calls – we have our next two community calls scheduled for august 11th (RSVP link) and 25th (RSVP link)! come meet other creators, collectors, and hear more directly from our product team :)

the creativity has been flowing – we’re in awe of the gems being minted recently. tap in below to collect a few of our faves :)