In this week’s transmission, we connect with Hiena. One of my favorite things about him, is his level of genuine authenticity, and honesty about his approach to both his work and life. When talking with him, I find that he naturally encourages one to be honest with themselves, and find pragmatic approaches to problems.
Perhaps, at the core of our friendship, there is a shared level of “take no shit.” We may have met through NFTs, but we have both found ways to not sacrifice who we are along the way. I find that Hiena specifically has a knack for conveying everything with great common sense, from topics of mental health, to technical approaches to creative processes.
We weaved in and out of topics about what it means to be an artist, and how that informs what we do with our personal endeavors. Who are we as artists? What is influencing our work? It’s always so refreshing to talk with artists who are being so mindful of what their intentions with their creative explorations are.
Having a clearly defined set of influences in his work really explains a lot about why he has such a solid grip on the narrative of being an artist. It also clearly influences his approach to the techniques he utilizes, and continues to modify, tweak, and in some cases move on from.
In fact, I find that his focus on mindfulness in so many aspects of his life, is a big clue into the heavily emotional messages that are apparent in his beautiful animations. Check out his work on Foundation, it’s a treasure trove of emotive art.
Growth is so important, because without it we stagnate as individuals. We are always adding and removing things in our lives to increase the quality of our day to day experiences, and I think this is a part of honing a better experience with our art as well. I find that Hiena manages to approach this point with a very practical approach.
While we kind of skim the surface of the importance of community, we do keep touching on the importance of staying mentally sound. Hiena eloquently breaks down multiple facets of how we can manage our expectations and maintain patience, and also on how this isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do.
Relatedly, we briefly mentioned this hilarious shit:
I think his experience with his personal life, his work life, and as a person who has been so deeply engaged with the crypto art scene, paints a picture of an artist that is very much immersed in perfecting the balancing act of being an artist. There are so many genuine points he makes that I can see in his artwork.
It’s tough to approach a lot of the uncomfortable topics around these themes of uncertainty, self doubt, and other major bummers we experience as artists, and it’s refreshing to talk with folks like Hiena that are not afraid to lean into it and explore it fully. It’s also pretty cool to be able to talk about things objectively like this, even though so many aspects of the discussion are esoteric dips into what it means to be a creative human.
While we briefly harp on the question of what it means for art when folks are creating multi-thousand generative projects, I think what’s most important to note there, is trying to achieve an understanding of what is too much, and what is not enough for artists. How the fuck do we do enough, without burning out? I think the answer is complicated, but embedded throughout the entire discussion we had.
My biggest takeaway from this discussion is pretty straightforward: don’t lose who you are in the process of trying to find success. I have to say, Hiena is one of a handful of folks I have met through this NFT madness that has resulted in an invaluable relationship that continues to keep my mental health in check. I really hope that in listening to this recording, you can see why.
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Next week, my guest is one of my favorite people I’ve met in this life, Jeanelle Mastema. She is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever worked with in my personal work, and has been a part of the performance world for about as long as I have. In fact, she is the lovely soul that is at the center of this piece I created, which I find to be one of the best installations I’ve ever created.
Tune in next week, and please remember to share this podcast on social media in the meantime!
Transmission 8 - Hiena