Featured Artist Drop Q&A with Humberto Diaz

This post was originally published on Nifty’s

Explore the Lost Sanctuary, Humberto Diaz’s genesis NFT project, exclusively on Nifty’s.

Introducing Humberto Diaz, the internationally exhibited multi-media artist, and his first NFT project, Lost Sanctuary, exclusively on Nifty’s. Learn more about the work and artist in our Q&A below.

Q&A with Humberto Diaz:

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Humberto Díaz, I am a Cuban artist who graduated in graphic design and ceramic from the Art Academy of Trinidad and post-graduated in Sculpture and Performance Art at the High Institute of Art (ISA) in Havana.

I have always been fascinated by three-dimensional and object-oriented art practices. First with ceramics and later on through performance pieces, videos, installations, and architectural interventions. In all these media, I construct poetic images that draw upon the social and political aspects of our environment. My work encourages a reconsideration by the viewer about the incidences in human-nature relations and the ways in which the mass media influences our perception of contemporary life and culture.

How did you learn about NFTs?

I heard about NFTs for the first time last year from two friends that knew my work and saw the potential they could have as NFTs. I resisted a bit at the beginning because I didn’t understand that much what they were talking about. Now I see it as an endless world of possibilities, it will become the medium to show digital projects, virtual sculptures, conceptual installations with possibilities that I couldn’t even think to make in the physical world. I decided to start with some of those unfinished ideas focused on making them ready for the virtual experience and the metaverse. So, departing from an installation project/idea named “Dead whale” 2019, I chose Lost Sanctuary to be my first NFT.

What was your inspiration for this drop?

Lost Sanctuary (Summer) is my genesis NFT; for it, I asked for the collaboration of the 3D artist Victor Lopez, which I had used to work in several previous projects and consider as a great talent working with 3DMax. Later on, we called my friend and composer René Rodriguez to create an original sound composition for each piece. For the three of us, the NFT is something new and we have all the excitement of the beginners.

For a year we have been working to create a unique and original series of NFTs developing a self-efficient microworld that tells the story of an asteroid or floating island that is lost in the metaverse. There is a symbiosis between the elements that conform to a self-efficient ecosystem. A visual game is generated between the open and enclosed spaces, the inside and the outside, the freedom and the cloistered.

Why and how did you start making digital art?

I started making digital art in the year 2000 with my first video installations using basic 3D animation of bricks and implosive waves. Since then I have been using digital processes to develop concepts and simulations prior to the production of some complex art installations. It was always a prep tool for Site-Specific proposals, but ironically not much of it has been exhibited or published.

Describe your work in one sentence.

My work moves on the edge between the possible and the impossible, the real and the unreal.

What opportunities have NFTs opened for you as an artist?

I always had the fear to die before I could be able to materialize many of my projects. My computer and hard drives are full of projects, but to show or make public an idea before it becomes “real” was taboo. Now the NFT and the “construction” of a Metaverse creates a platform to share those digital compositions, renders, and ideas. Becoming themselves the materialization of my universe in the virtual space, making their existence available and potentially reachable for an unlimited audience. This is a whole new concept and way to understand intellectual rights. For sure the future of the Arts will be influenced by the development of the NFT and the possibilities they are opening for all types of creative expressions.

What will be your next NFT drop?

LOST SANCTUARY (Summer) will be followed by three more drops: Galactic Autumn, Boreal Winter, and Aquatic Spring. All based on the evolution of this ecosystem in which every element has a key function in order to survive.

Thank you Humberto for sharing more about your background and works for this drop with Nifty’s. Explore and collect the drop live now here on Nifty’s.

ARTIST BIO

Twitter: @humbertodiaz75

Instagram: @humbertodiaz75

Humberto Diaz is an internationally exhibited multi-media artist, known for installation, performance, video, and photography work. Humberto Diaz is the first of upcoming NFT releases from Cuban artists selected by international curator and art historian Gladys Garrote. This is his genesis NFT project, created in collaboration with 3D artist Victor López and the composer René Rodriguez.

Stay tuned for next week’s drop with Shay The Surrealist on Thursday, February 10th. To stay connected with these and future drops, subscribe to our Medium and follow us on Twitter.