Messing around with the ordinary is what creative Gab Bois does best; she uses everyday objects to give them a new purpose and you’ve likely already seen her work on Instagram! Now, Gab Bois is about to release her latest work that utilises NFT, and it is dropping this Thursday. Gab spoke to us all about her exciting new project which she has been quietly working on for a while, how you can get involved and even win some artwork for yourself. In addition to this, Gab has been working alongside Offsetra and Black Women Exhale for this project. This in turn will help raise awareness and money in order to reduce carbon emissions and Black women in need.

What made you want to get into the creative field?

Art was always my favourite subject in school. I loved art class but was never one of the best students when it comes to technique; for example, some kids would execute perfectly drawn self-portraits, while my reflections had huge teeth and Archimboldo-esque grapes for hair! My father played a really important role in my art education, he’s actually a self-taught painter who worked part time to pay the bills. He sacrificed a lot to keep time for his very private art practice. Being one of the very few people he ever let in his studio in our basement, it felt like a true privilege to see him work, almost as if I was witnessing a sacred act. These childhood memories are ones I hold very close to my heart.

What initially started your concept of creating such a unique style of work?

I started out as a massive content consumer, which I think helped a lot in training my creative eye in the long run. I routinely spent hours browsing through Tumblr and Instagram, reblogging and liking posts of artists I liked. My start was heavily inspired by creators I loved, and as time went on, I developed a voice that is now my own.

How do you come up with concepts for new pieces?

They usually come one of two ways; I either sit myself down with the intention of brainstorming or they come at the most random times. It happens a lot in the early morning when I’m in the half-asleep stage and when I wake up, I can’t tell if I dreamt it or consciously thought of it. I love when that happens.

Do you create all of your own work yourself or collaborate with other artists as well?

I’ve done some collaborations in the past with amazing artists such as Nicole McLaughlin, Didi Rojas and John Yuyi and every one of these collabs was an amazing experience that brought me out of my comfort zone. That being said, 95% of my body of work so far is individual. I usually feel the need to be super hands on with every part of the creative process so, most of the time, I feel most comfortable working by myself.

Tell us about your new project that is dropping this Thursday using NFT digital art?

This is so exciting! So, I’m dropping my very first NFT collection on Nifty Gateway this upcoming Thursday April 22nd at 6:30 PM EST. This has been months in the making now, and it’s great to see it all come together. It will be a drop of six pieces total; two of them being timed open editions which are live for two minutes, three limited editions and one edition of one.

One of the things we really wanted to do for this drop, is give value back to the collectors who’ll participate in this drop. For example, we’re giving away 20 super limited hardcover editions of my book to the collectors of one of the limited editions (Crypto Babe), a huge art print for the collector who wins the one of one auction, and other fun surprises you’ll discover when we go live.

This drop is my very literal interpretation of the crypto art space right now. I played around with the Ethereum logo (the blockchain technology NFT’s are part of) and added my own twist to it. I also played around with video for the single edition piece, with a wonderful team. Which is a new frontier for me.

I’m also so happy to be able to partner with Offsetra to offset more than double the carbon emissions associated with the NFT drop. Also, 10% of all primary sales profits will be donated to Black Women Exhale, an organisation that offers relief funding to Black women in need.

NFT is a new technique for you – what inspired you to utilise this process?

One of the guys who published my book was the first one to ever talk to me about NFTs back in November 2020. The space wasn’t developed to the point where is it today, but the word about crypto art was starting to spread. It took me a hot minute to really understand even the basics around what an NFT is, the entire concept seemed so abstract at first. I did a lot of research afterwards, reading about the new developments and different opinions on the subject.

If you look past all the hype, NFT’s are a creative tool which may express the narrative of an artist’s work with added dimension and tell our story from a new perspective. It democratises the collection of artwork, by connecting more collectors to more artists directly, without the intervention of traditional gatekeepers. We as artists in turn have the opportunity to then provide more value directly to the people who support an artist’s work - like combining the sale of digital artwork with physical product. There’s more value being given by both parties in the transaction, and more being received at the same time. It’s also a space of complete creative freedom which I do not hate.

Now, I’m more curious than ever about the space, and I really believe we’ve only uncovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to crypto art, I’m positioning myself to be a player in that space long term.

How do you see using more digital formats for building your work will change the direction of your practice?

I mean, a lot of what I’ve done so far in terms of imagery has been distributed digitally, so I see NFT’s not only as a new distribution channel but also as a new medium. Like I said, for this first drop, I took things very literally in my interpretation, but my long-term goal is to learn a lot more about this creative space to understand all of its layers and be able to play around with those in the pieces. There’s so much going on with NFT’s as far as their structure, their market, their different blockchains and so on. My journey with crypto art is only beginning and my future works will be a visual representation of this personal learning curve and the growth that follows.