Digital art is on the rise, there is no doubt about that! With NFT's, digital fashion and real-life 3D avatars holding over a million followers, online artists have come into a spotlight of their own. Paola Pinna is a Digital and 3D Artist based in Cagliari, Italy who has founded her own studio specialising in Character Creation, Fashion, Creative Direction, Animation, Digital Identity, and 3D art.

After completing her studies in MA Fine Art Digital at Camberwell College of Arts in London, Paola moved back to Italy where she works both as an artist and on commission. Her expertise has been noticed across the globe, she recently spoke in a TED talk in Russia about how digital art and 3D avatars can help to build a more sustainable future. She has also hosted exhibitions around Europe, her latest was called Welcome to Paradise, a NRW-Forum in Dusseldorf.

Paola is particularly interested in exploring the meaning of being human today, her work focuses on different aspects of the relationship between humans and machines, the internet and its subcultures, but also shows a fascination with new ways of conceiving life, the metaverse, the aesthetics and female gaze in the age of technological advancements.

In an interview with Paola, we touch on what it's like being a digital artist in the modern world of blossoming technology, and she lets us in on 3D processes.

Describe to us what a digital & 3D artist is?

A digital & 3D Artist is a visual artist who uses digital tools and 3D software to make art. Generally speaking, most 3D software was made to be used for things such as architecture or game development, but what's beautiful about it is how people use them and challenge them to create something artistically meaningful. Most often 3D Artists are hybrids between technical and traditional artists.

What does a normal day look like for you?

Usually, I get up and check my e-mails first thing. Then I work on my commissions during the day and later in the evening I work on some personal artworks/projects. I am flexible with my routine depending on what I'm working on at the moment. I spend 70% of the time at the computer, but I take many short breaks in between... and I listen to music, basically, all day long in the meantime. I do my chores while the PC is rendering, and try to take weekends off to recharge.

If you could show kudos to three of your most favourites artists, who would they be?

I love the style and approach of Team Rofles (it's two brothers Andy and Sam who are extremely talented) - Nicole Ruggiero, which I always find her work to be super inspiring, and Mattia Cuttini as OG crypto-artist as he's always so productive and surprising. But honestly, I could name so many more, I'm so stunned by how many talents I am virtually surrounded by, and I love them all for different reasons.

What is the process like for you when you create your art?

I think it's a mixture of feeling, conceptualise and technicality - but ultimately fun. I find inspiration from my day-to-day life, something that happens to me personally or some concepts that resonate with me. So, I start from a vague idea of a concept, I usually develop it starting by using DAZ and work with characters, try different poses - and then I would mess it up and play with it a bit, either including some VR sculpts, or some more abstract elements made with Blender. Most of the time I develop it as I go along and see what surprises me and what works best during the process.

What is your lifelong goal? And how do you intend to get there?

My goal is to have a life that is rich and interesting enough to always push me to make art - and live off of what I create. This is sort of what I have already, but I wish to push it more to the extreme and be completely absorbed and in love with everything I do. I intend to just keep on what I'm doing right now, of course with the intention of constantly pushing and challenging my practice. Basically to never stop enjoying myself!