art and death

welcome to issue #19 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.

what have we been up to? we’re wrapping up the summer with some very exciting initiatives to support artists, empower collectors, and showcase gems from our community 👀 now let’s get into it :)

it would be an understatement to say that we’ve been awed by the creativity this past week. of the hundreds of art pieces being shared, these are a few of our favorites. tap in below to get started on adding them to your collection :)

this week’s featured creator is celena a. (@quantumcasual). her illustrations link comedy and tragedy seamlessly, acknowledging the coexistence of light and dark. our community manager sydney recently sat down with her to chat about her inspirations, artistic approach, and thoughts on life and death.

tell me your story

i’ve been making stuff since i was young. that's when i really first started thinking, “okay, this is what i wanna do.” i would say that my growth is inspired by both inspiration from my family and my sense of community at large.

the name quantum casual comes from the catharsis i experience when i create. i have a feeling i want to convey on canvas but i’m not always sure what that looks like when i start. it just sort of makes sense as i go along, especially when i approach it with a relaxed and “casual” state of mind.

how did you cultivate your style? what’s your favorite subject to illustrate?

someone that i met on primitives, design_de_luca, described my style as, “minimal surrealist.” i never thought of it that way, but i feel like that perfectly describes it.

women and femininity are usually themes i come back to. it's because i resonate with that. in my art i typically portray a mirror of what's going on inside of me. i also would say death. the weird and traumatic essence of death and what someone may experience because of it is something i like to explore in my work.

what does your creative process look like?

first i have to have the time to just sit down and doodle. sometimes it'll just come to me as a thought. for example, i think it would be really cool to draw the skeleton of a fish. or if i see a film or read a book that will incite an idea, and i'll just sit down and start drawing.

i'm the type of artist who needs to complete a piece right then and there. i have a hard time prolonging something. i always try to make sure i keep up with my reading, make sure i keep up with what's the latest film coming out or current events, and just get inspired by that.

what would you say to someone who's nervous to share work that they make?

we all die at some point. why not just do it? it doesn't make sense to have so much energy and focus and attention in something not to share it. instead, why can't we alchemize that and put it into something that makes us feel good? and i think that as long as people chase what feels good, it's always going to result in something great at the end of it.

how has your experience been on primitives?

what i love about primitives is that it's easy to use. i feel like the concept that you are just there to share work and to make connections with other people is made very clear.

along the way there's perks in being able to advertise yourself as an artist and to help build connections that may make you go further. primitives has actually helped me better understand how to navigate and how it's really just a tool.

we’ve been hard at work on a few very exciting initiatives focused on increasing opportunities for artists and empowering collectors.

what’s new recently?

• tweet tweet 🐦 – we built a twitter bot (or should we say cough X?) that auto-posts every piece of art being shared on primitives. we’re loving the behind-the-scenes access - come and follow along

• community call 💛 – we have our next community call scheduled for this friday, september 8th at 11am est! come meet other creators, collectors, and hear our

  product team talk more about points :) RSVP here

• how a forgotten new york street made art history

• this mid-century artist’s haven on fire island

• our foray into german rap

• black southern storytelling in this dreamy artist studio

is there a creative friend you think might like primitives? share our newsletter with 10 friends to earn a limited edition hat :)

primitives is building an online space for creatives. we empower anyone to discover new creators, mint and share work, build collections, and join communities. keep up with us on twitter, instagram, tiktok, and at primitives.xyz.