Fluid figures dissecting the pictorial in the digital era, Nicemask destroys to adorn.

“We are the only species which can destroy itself, and also make miracles happen to solve it. We are powerful and fragile… We are like gods.”

So, let’s start by you telling me a bit about yourself
I'm Nicemask - an Instagram project in progress.

Do you think your background influences your work? If so, how?
Of course. I'm always stealing ideas from my environment. Instagram is a great source of visual information that brings you a lot of concepts and aesthetics. And also, the real world, that is where matery comes over and you can imagine any fantasy happening there. Then you just have to mix them and make something personal.

What concepts do you tend to follow and how have this developed over time?
I usually talk about what every kind of art does... passing time. That's what I represent with the fluid and cloth figures I use. They are going to become digital archeology like all the culture of humankind. Meanwhile I delve into other concepts such as the pictorial in the digital era. You know, you can make a great painting just with a tablet, in your computer and you can make real shit with a brush. Sometimes pictorial is not about matery, it's about the accident.
Other concepts I use follow genres like randomness, creepy and weird humour.

Your work often has a glazed or almost crumpled aesthetic. What instigated this?
Art must be crumpled and weird, because it’s the way to throw out the shit you have inside. Look at the scream of Munch, the dark paintings of Goya, the majority of works of Tiziano, Picasso was so creepy as well... even Warhol has a dark side, if you think what he pretended with his work...

You seem to alternate between creating gendered and gender-neutral beings. What decides this?
This is mostly random. It's decided by the models I download from the internet. I also like to reconsider the gender roles and play with them.

Practice-wise, do you have any ceremonial processes that are embedded into the production of your work?
Yes. First, I have an original idea. Then I destroy it. When I like what I destroyed, that's a good work. I use very different programs, that depend on the project I want to work on. Sometimes I have to play with a program from the beginning to make something. Programs such as Maya, Houdini, Mudbox, Nuke, Photoshop, After Effects...

One piece that particularly stood out to me is an animation of a man on his phone surrounded by falling money and two pigs. Can you tell me a bit about this?
Haha it is a weird clip indeed. I don't know, I think that is what I pretended. It is a pig seeing a pig carcass, just like if it was reflecting on its life, existence, destiny... what is raining is not money, it is lottery tickets from here, Spain. Here they are very typical and traditional. I guess they talk about the luck or unluck in life. Meanwhile, someone is recording it, just like in every situation today.

In this sector of design, I assume it is possible to design all types of physical forms. Why have you chosen to base your creations on the human physique?
I don't think so. I have projects with animals and fantasy, sculptures, and anthropomorphic figures that are not necessarily humans. Anyway, I love humanity. We are the only species which can destroy itself, and also make miracles happen to solve it. We are powerful and fragile. We are like gods. And so, I want people recognise themselves in my pics.

Designing beings can be very controversial. Do you see yourself as a creator of creatures, beings, models, something along these lines, or a different type of creator?
I don't create anything except visual ideas, that is like cooking a dish: a cooker doesn't create the tomato or the lettuce, but he uses it to make a great salad.

What do you think about the debates surrounding the designing of digital figures, and do you/how do you relate to yourself to these? Particularly regarding the influence of the male gaze over this industry.
I don't know, I'm not a part of the digital production industry itself. The suburbs of the net world, digital art and content creators is a bit different. I see a lot of digital woman creators that I follow, and they are so fuckin cool, more and more every day. That's what I like the most.