Nature and its surroundings have always been the most important sources of inspiration for

me, especially clouds. My first work featured clouds (acrylic on paper haha). The aesthetics

of clouds and the sky have had a lasting impact on my art—their lightness, balance, subtle

beauty, and soft compositions.

It all started with dancing (hip hop). One day, for some reason, I decided to buy Kandinsky's

book without knowing anything about him. After reading his description of a point shaped like

a circle as the beginning of everything on the canvas, creating different shapes around it, the

thought stuck in my head. That night, everything changed for me. I went straight to the gym,

and my relationship with dancing began to transform completely.

For me, my body became a point depicting different forms, yet it remained the point

Kandinsky described. The canvas became the space surrounding my body and me. This is

where the name of one of my collections, "Expressive Space," comes from.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I faced a creative crisis and didn't know how to move

forward. I wanted something more in my dance and art, which had been my passions since

childhood. As the days flew by, my frustration grew. I didn't know why I was dancing

anymore—battles became less interesting, and freestyle began to seem repetitive.

One day, I decided to explore digital art, initially thinking I wanted to become a graphic

designer (unaware of the broader field of digital art). When I started learning graphic design,

I randomly picked up lines and began playing with them. That's when I discovered what I

had been searching for all my life.

I saw dancing in my lines, the shapes of the human body, and forms found in nature, similar

to those in Kandinsky's book. I didn't fully understand it, but it spoke to me. I realized I was

creating balance and smooth flow in my compositions through my dance experience,

recalling the imperfect yet perfect balance of nature and our planet. At that point, I decided to

combine Kandinsky's philosophy of the point on the plane with my dance vision and transfer

it all to a digital canvas.

I had always danced more geometrically, but after reading the book, my vision changed

completely. When I transferred this vision to the digital canvas, I found what I had been

looking for all along.

I first started creating digital art with Adobe Illustrator, as it was the only tool I knew very well.

After a year of practice, I delved deeply into geometry and vector art. I liked the purity of

colors and the black line. Eventually, I decided to buy an iPad on credit (haha) and got

Procreate. Initially, I set the iPad aside because I was afraid of drawing, having never drawn

anything in my life. However, after 3-4 weeks, I decided to face my fear and give it a try. I

realized that when you confront your fears, everything becomes much better and easier.

From the first day, I fell in love with Procreate. I began using the techniques I had learned in

Illustrator within Procreate, creating my compositions with even more passion.

Dilla's music, sneaker culture, and architecture are pretty diverse sources of inspiration. How

do these elements manifest themselves in your work?

This is a very interesting and fun question that I ask myself often haha. I think it's because I

was never really familiar with fine art until I started making digital art. My main source of

inspiration was hip hop dance culture, which included music, sneaker culture, and

architecture from traveling around cities and battles.

I believe that vision can be shaped by the things that surround you. In my case, it was the

great technique J Dilla used on the "MPC AKAI - 3000." If you're familiar with his technique,

he started to see the free mixing of sounds on a microscopic scale.

This created a disorienting rhythmic mismatch, combining both straight and swing rhythms at

the same time. The design and color combinations of sneakers, as well as the purity of lines

in architecture and their compositions, beautifully reflect the clarity of the sky and the play of

light with shadows.

These elements are some of the main aspects of my fine art.

I had heard of NFTs back in 2021 but knew nothing about SuperRare, ArtBlocks, and had no

idea how an artist could build a career in Web3. It didn't work out then because gas fees

were very expensive, and I didn't understand anything about it—not even that the main

artists' hangout was on Twitter and IRL events. In 2022, I had to get a job as a graphic

designer to make money for my art and pay for gas fees, but for six months, I couldn't make

up my mind because I still didn't understand anything.

In September 2022, I was fired from my job with the criticism that I had no taste or vision

(this was a very scary moment for me) because I had a loan for an iPad that took up 40

percent of my salary. I decided to pay off the loan in October and spend the remaining

money on gas fees to prove to myself that my art could be appreciated and that my vision

would eventually become a legacy. When I was introduced to NFTs and blockchain, I started

to realize that blockchain gives digital art a real legacy, allowing it to live for centuries,

marking the beginning of a new era.

I fell in love with this space and the opportunities it provides. For the first time, I started to

take my career very seriously and responsibly. I saw how artists working on their art could

reach great heights and inspire thousands of people, whether they are artists or collectors. I

realized that this is the only place where digital art and an artist's ambitions are genuinely

appreciated and recognized.

I think I still have a lot to learn in this space, especially about blockchain, but every day I

wake up and live my dream—the life I always dreamed of. I am grateful for blockchain and

for being able to witness and be part of the birth of a great culture that is avant-garde and

will remain so for centuries to come.

To create Pepe and give respect to the culture was probably one of my main desires and

goals (maybe I never said it, but it drove me). I didn't want to create it just for my style; I

wanted something big, I wanted to give respect to Pepe, to give it a meaning that will live

forever. But it took me more than a year to get there. I knew this moment would come, and I

was waiting for it.

In May 2023, I created my first Pepe and called it Shape-pe, leaning more into minimalism.

By September, I remembered my earlier work, specifically my limited edition "Inner World"

series inspired by the Bauhaus school in 2021. Inspired by this piece, I decided to expand on

it and make it more fun. After I finished, I decided to call it "Pepehaus" ("Pepe / Bauhaus")

for some reason. I shared it on Twitter and then went into the shadows to work on my next

collections and evolution.

Pepehaus often spun around in my head, but I thought that one day I would publish it on the

blockchain without giving it much importance. In 2024, after a performance that lasted six

months, I took a holiday for myself. At the start of 2024, I had a goal to dedicate my art to

respecting this space. Days went by, and I was just working and creating art as I always do.

Suddenly, Pepe himself seemed to come to me, saying it was time to respect him and the

space.

I started experimenting with a regular silhouette of Pepe. At first, I liked it, but in the morning,

I realized it wasn't what I wanted because I always strive for perfection and prioritize my

vision and concept. I opened my Pepehaus and looked at it for a long time.

Suddenly, the Bauhaus logo came to mind, representing all geometric art and the modern

world in general. The Bauhaus had a significant influence on my art and vision. That's when

the whole puzzle came together.

I realized why I created something in 2023 inspired by my own work, which was in turn

inspired by the Bauhaus school and called Pepehaus. Sometimes we come to ideas along

crooked roads, but we arrive at the right time (life is so interesting).

This is a question I ask myself every time hehe. I experiment every day, whether mentally or

by sitting down to create work. Often, you can see pieces I post throughout the day or week

in my feed.

I post them so that I can go back, look at them, and think about what I did, where I could

change something, and how I can improve. It's a never-ending search. I always try to work

with different shapes and color palettes because I believe being an artist is a journey that

you go through every day. Each day, you develop as a person, and you develop your art and

vision.

I can make a piece that might be my best work to the viewer, but I have recently realized that

what people like isn't always my best work. I care more about the opinion of the right people,

whose taste I trust. I am just looking for perfection where there is none, and I think I will find

it in 100 years when only my art will live.

As I mentioned earlier, when Pepe himself came to me and said, "I think it's time for you to

show me some respect and devote all your time to getting to know me," he immediately

became my muse. He inspired an idea and established himself as the foundation of my style

and the avant-garde of the 20th and 21st centuries in general. In my art, Pepe symbolizes

what the Bauhaus symbolized: the purity of colors, lines, and a simple yet aspirationally

complex balance.

How do I combine these elements? I'll say it in one phrase: as Wolf von Eckhardt said, the

Bauhaus "created models for modern industrial design and set its standards; contributed to

the formation of modern architecture; changed the look of everything from the chair you sit

on to the book you read." Do you feel the connection between digital art, blockchain, and

their culture? NFTs are transforming contemporary art, and soon all art may be tokenized,

leading to a fully digital world, perhaps within the next 50 years. The Bauhaus had a similar

mission; they were condemned and not fully accepted. As Vilmos Husar wrote in 1922 in De

Stijl: where the Bauhaus was condemned as unproductive and blamed for "a crime against

the state and civilization."

Memes, Pepe, and NFTs are experiencing a similar journey in a parallel universe, although

not literally a crime, their mission is the same. Artists, collectors, and curators are all working

to be remembered 50-100 years from now; we are here for the future, not just the present

(wow, I get goosebumps every time I think about it).

Pepe culture represents the avant-garde carrying the big wave of digital art. The day will

come when memes are fully recognized as high-ranking art. Geometric abstraction and

abstraction, in general, have been gaining the recognition they deserve in recent years, and I

see parallels between digital art and its culture. We may not receive recognition for our daily

efforts, but we are building for the future, just as the Bauhaus was created for the future back

then.

When you look at the history of Pepe art, you see great works like "PepeSuprem" by Grant

Yun and "Geometric Pepe" by Batz. Notice their purity of composition and colors. Without

the Bauhaus School, I believe geometric art would still not receive recognition, and such

works by great artists would not be on the blockchain.

The essence of Pepehaus is not only to pay homage to Pepe but also to connect meaning,

bridge art between the traditional and digital art worlds.

As I fully immersed myself in Pepe's culture and creation, I discovered on wiki.pepe.wtf why

Pepe and meme art, in general, can be considered high art. Pepe disregards plagiarism;

what matters to him isn't where you sourced something from, but the meaning you imbue it

with and what you aim to express. Initially, when creating the collection, I intended to adhere

to the Bauhaus ethos, famously established by Walter Adolph Georg Gropius.

However, upon acquainting myself with Pepe, I decided to let Pepe himself dictate the

collection's direction. He drew inspiration from avant-garde artists of the 20th century such

as Kandinsky, Josef Albers, and E. Kelly, as well as the Bauhaus legacy, instructing me to

infuse these influences with my own style.

The significance of incorporating the works of these avant-gardists from the 20th century lies

in the idea that in art, it's not merely the visual aspect that matters, but rather what you leave

behind for future generations.

This is the legacy left by the 20th-century avant-gardists, who approached art from scientific

perspectives and explored the beauty of life and issues significant to humanity. Similarly,

artists today find themselves at the dawn of the digital age, contemplating their place in the

present while shaping the future.

With this collection, I aim to convey that we don't need to aspire to the traditional art world.

While we appreciate the experience of traditional art professionals and collectors, attempting

to convert everyone into digital art enthusiasts and collectors is futile. We are unique, with

differing perspectives on the future of art.

Digital art is gaining acceptance, yet many still resist recognizing its impact, much like the

profound influence of NFTs on the art world.

Through this collection, I wanted to demonstrate that we don't have to conform to traditional

art norms. We inhabit parallel yet distinct worlds. Collectors of NFTs and digital art are a

separate group, learning and finding inspiration in their own way. It's all about enjoyment,

which epitomizes Pepe's essence.

We are reshaping not only the outward appearance of art as humanity knows it but also

redefining the entire concept of ART itself. Isn't that avant-garde? Isn't that the future?

I have started working on my next collection and concept, which has been brewing in my

mind for more than half a year, perhaps even longer.

I can't reveal much yet, but I will say this: soon you will see it when I publish the first piece. I

am very excited about my new concept. However, I'll leave you with two hints.

First, you will soon see me everywhere again. And the second clue is that simplicity is key to

uniqueness.

As for the development of my art, it will continue to evolve as long as I breathe in this life.