Being transparent about my whole artistic evolution has made my relationship with my audience feel genuinely real and warm. I often bounce ideas off them when I'm deciding to experiment with something new I want to develop. Honestly, I'm just so grateful that they've always been supportive, giving me valuable advice, input, and even criticism for what I'm trying to do. I don't worry if some people might see me as inconsistent, because I have so many people who believe in and support my artistic journey.

Oh, definitely. That "too fast and complicated" feeling in the space absolutely played a part. It really made me want to strip things back to something more fundamental and honest. "Cursed Tribe" is, at its core, pretty simple. Plus, it just happened to be October, and I just felt we needed something spooky! Lately, most of my work has been really sweet and like "angelic", so this collection felt special, it's dark, not just for the "spooky" season, but I also really wanted to create something different for this drop with Ninfa.

Yes! For the big-picture theme, I was definitely inspired by "Majora's Mask" from The Legend of Zelda, that whole idea of a cursed item that causes chaos and destruction. And for the actual visuals, I also pulled a lot of inspiration from games, especially the look of Hollow Knight and some of the armor helms from Elden Ring.

Honestly, there's no real secret or special method to how I landed on this minimal yet powerful palette. If you look at my previous work, you'll see I've almost always used these same colors. The main difference is just which color dominates. This time around, I'm using a lot more deep black to really emphasize that "dark" aura. I'm using less red, but making sure it's "on point" just enough to catch the viewer's eye and deliver a stronger visual message.

It really goes back to my previous answer. I have to balance my own feelings first when I'm thinking about the visual I want to achieve. If an idea feels too excessive or too complex, I'll adjust it. As artists, we obviously want to make things better and more perfect, and we often try to do that by adding a lot of extra details that aren't really necessary. In my opinion, the real key to balancing it all was just a sense of "enough" Knowing when to stop is what keeps the entire collection coherent.

Yes, some of them are definitely drawn from my own experiences and emotions, but I don't make it obvious. When portraying those emotions, sometimes I'll make them hyperbolic by really exaggerating them while other times I'll do the complete opposite and deliberately understate them. It all just depends on what I need to do to achieve the visual I'm aiming for.

This goes right back to my main inspiration, Majora's Mask. I wanted to capture the exact same sense I get from it. From the first time I saw that mask until now, I've always thought it was beautiful and cool. At the same time, the longer I look at it, the more uncomfortable I feel. But no matter what, I still absolutely love it. So for Cursed Tribe, I wanted to evoke that exact same feeling. That's the role of the discomfort, it's that specific sensation I get when I stare at Majora's Mask.

I think the connection is about how all of us, as people, have our own life problems and burdens that come from incredibly diverse and unique backgrounds. As for the masks being a metaphor for the identities we build online, I’d say it’s both yes and no. It’s no because this isn't just an online phenomenon. In the real world, most of us are constantly suppressing or hiding something inside. The mask is just like a 'passive item' that we automatically equip before we go on and face our daily lives.

That's a great question. In my philosophy, "beautiful and simple" isn't something that can just appear unconditionally. I believe it needs a "condition" or a prerequisite to exist. And for me, Cursed Tribe is that condition. It's the necessary groundwork. It's the reason that will allow for something truly beautiful and simple to come next.

Out of all those options, I hope that people will just see it and think, "Wow, this is cool" And then, after that initial thought, perhaps they start connecting it to things that have happened in their own lives. I'm happiest when people look at my work and are able to form their own personal interpretation of it.