This week’s episode is with the absolutely brilliant Dani Leoni. An Argentinian artist living in Europe, she is a master of liminal vibes. Her story is one about constant exploration, with an approach defined by humility and honesty. One of the big reminders I got out of this interview was to stay curious.
With a professional background as an illustrator, she has gotten to work on a variety of different projects including being a background artist work for animations. As it turns out, her path was not initially very clear, as she led a different life for a bit, pursuing studies for a career in Psychology. She quit to become an artist, after realizing the life of being a psychologist wasn’t for her.
Even earlier on, there was the traditional societal/family rooted notion that one has to have a “serious” career, even though her parents were supportive of her creativity. Eventually she circled around to the realization that she could be a professional artist. What was once considered a hobby, turned out to be a social construct.
Telling the story of her first art teacher, we find the story of a really rigid traditional painter dictating what art is. Though quite good at what he does, he was also clearly a real jerk. I’m glad his crappy, controlling attitude did not deter Dani from being an artist permanently.
As she pursued a path to being an artist, she discovered an artist named Lucas Aguirre. Her experience with this person as an instructor was the opposite of the previous guy, who was on the “no fun allowed” tip. Inversely, Lucas encouraged her to check out different types of art, and was much more nurturing.
Nowadays Dani is mostly working in digital, though she does mention she occasionally picks up oils, and she still likes drawing in her notebooks. Getting her first tablet was clearly a pivotal point for her, though the transition to digital was gradual.
Having transitioned to digital, she was stoked to bring over some of her style from physical media, but also to be able to explore new styles and ideas freely. Explaining what her process looks like, I love that she lands on how this medium has boosted her confidence with her work, and also landed her in a more comfortable environment to work in.
When it comes to what is influencing or inspiring Dani’s work, we find a recurring theme of exploration. Dani has a lot of whys she is pursuing; why she is attracted to another artist’s work, why she feels the way she does, and so on. This kind of inquisitive conceptual space is probably where the most abstract types of work spring from.
On the topic of ‘is this dark art,’ Dani states that the context she is depicting in her work is not something she decided to do; it just happened. Just like with other artists I have interviewed (like Maria Pleshkova), it’s others that have applied the “dark art” label. The liminal spaces her work inhabits is an exploration of abstraction in a way that makes the viewer want to reach a little deeper inside themselves, or maybe into the art before them.
One of my favorite takeaways from Dani’s explanation of her work, is that she loves it when folks looking at her work find something personal in her work. This is a beautifully practical way to express one’s intentions with their work. It’s elegant on a mental level; the complexity of what others may interpret in one’s work is more often a burden in an artist’s mind than not. Dani is not carrying that kind of self-sabotaging weight!
I’m always so fascinated with how digital artists approach the notion of showing their work physically, and Dani is clearly all about it. The idea of an immersive environment is so underrated in the NFT world, and I hope that folks attend more physical events as time goes on.
I also love that Dani says we have to challenge ourselves, to avoid being stuck in one place. Versatility is so important for an artist’s growth, and it’s also apparent to me in her work work, when looking across multiple marketplaces, over multiple years. The recurring notion of exploration with her approach really stands out when talking about
We go on to talk a bit about what’s next for her, and how she’s picking some stuff she was into back up again. Dani was exploring AI in the earlier VQGAN-CLIP days, has experimented in 3D with Z-Brush, and is now looking at photogrammetry again. Her attitude to wanting to dive deeper with everything is really motivational to me; we need to break out of our comfort zones. I truly believe this is the key to personal growth as an artist as well.
Please be sure to follow Dani on Twitter, and Instagram, and be sure to check out her work across multiple marketplaces!
Next week I’ll be back with my podcast episode with the amazing Bezmiar. If you are into thoughtful, liminal, and emotive mental spaces, you’re going to want to go check him out.
Transmission #27 - Dani Leoni