Milana Juventa
Milana is an award-winning abstract painter and digital NFT artist whose works are internationally known.
She has exhibited at the Louvre (yes, THE Louvre) and is appropriately creative and well-known at the NFT space.
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/milanajuventa/
https://linktr.ee/milanajuventa
https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/milana-juventa
https://mjartshop.onuniverse.com
Tell us something about yourself. What do you do outside of art and how did you get into art?
I’m MJ, a prizewinning abstract painter and graphic designer whose works have been featured in group shows internationally.
Engaged in art ever since childhood, I have a technical background in both painting and graphic design. My style is a synthesis of techniques from expressionism and magical realism, to abstract and figurative works.
I have participated in exhibitions in Japan, Italy, China, Great Britain, France (Louvre museum in 2015 and 2017), Russia and the United States.
I had collaborations with Megafon mobile operator (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MegaFon) and Paul Mitchell (https://www.paulmitchell.com/).
I was included in national ratings of best artists of Russia.
How did you find your way to the NFT space and when did you join?
I heard about crypto-art a few years ago, but I didn’t know exactly how to get into the industry.
In early 2021 my friends suddenly started talking about it in chorus, and I made every effort to research the topic and get involved in the community.
What three people have inspired/influenced you?
I have been inspired by dozens of artists, but Basquiat, Kandinsky, Malevich and Peter Doig have left their mark on my soul forever.
What is your motto in life?
My motto: “It’s possible!”
Also based on this manifesto, I created a painting with the same name. This is a very capacious notion, I put the most positive meanings into it.
With which characteristics would you describe your art?
5 things about my art:
Abstraction. I love abstraction for its complexity of creation and breadth of perception. I often leave it to the viewer to interpret the work.
Positivity. I believe in transmitting energy through images so I always create my art in a good mood.
Uniqueness. I have spent years and years studying and practicing art. You can consider my handwriting even if it is a different material, experiment or technique.
Versatility. My paintings are multifunctional, you can use them as interior decoration or a phone screen saver, you can refer to them during philosophical reflections.
Eternity. I don’t accept fleeting hype and I don’t follow trends. I aim for eternity pew pew pew 🔫
What tools do you work with?
I create both in traditional materials (usually acrylic or oil on canvas, also graphics on paper) and in digital (here I use a mix of applications and my favorite is Procreate).
What inspires you in your art?
I am inspired by small wonders that are hard to see in everyday life, nature, the beauty of the moment and abstract emotions.
How much time do you invest in your art per week?
It’s hard to say how much time I spend in a week for art, years I’ve built up practice to create quickly.
Sometimes I have to wait for a good mood, sometimes I’m working without any timeout for a few days on a roll.
How much time do you invest per week in sales, e.g. on Twitter?
As far as I can see, marketing plays a crucial role in NFT sales, as much as I hate to admit it. I spend a lot of time on social media every day, especially on Twitter.
I wish there was more emphasis on art rather than marketing.
What marketplaces are you in and why those?
At the moment, my NFTs are featured on platforms such as Foundation, Makersplace, KnownOrigin, OpenSea, Rarible, Babylons, Objkt, Versum.
Also I deployed my first own smart contract MJ Journey.
Do you remember your first sale? Tell us about it.
Oh, my first sale was very unexpected and literally blew my mind!
It was an animated character “Abstract character smiles to you instantly” on Rarible, sold for 0.75 ETH.
I will remember it for a lifetime and am infinitely grateful to my collector Don Crypto for such a high start in NFT.
What other artists do you like and why?
There are many great artists I really love.
It is difficult to mention all of them, I will name first of all Kate MacDonald, KlawMashine, PtiteAngele, OdysseyOfTheHeart, Utku, NFT Car Girl, Rebellica, Brickspacer, Ilham etc…So many of them!!!
I love their creativity and support to the community.
Are you a collector yourself?
Of course, I try to support the community and my colleagues, so I collect NFTs little by little.
It’s very important to me that it’s quality art, I have a lot of observance over the years. I also love a fun idea or groovy execution.
Some of the pieces I have in my collection caught my eye immediately and made me want to buy them.
What were your 3 biggest challenges?
- To keep faith in yourself and the NFT in times of market dips and complete doldrums in sales.
- To do more marketing and a little less creativity (because you don’t have time for everything at once).
- To have patience (I will say it a hundred times).
What were the 3 best experiences?
- Participating in NFTBoxes by Pranksy
- Creating a daily collection for a month (31 paintings in October 2021)
- All of the collaborations brought a lot of joy to participate, NFT256 was full of excitement.
Where do you see yourself in 1 year?
A year later I see myself driving a Porsche Spyder 550, heading to the NYK NFT to see my artworks in Times Square and then at the party with BAYC and my collectors Snoop Dogg and Mike Tyson lol.
How do you see the development in the NFT space since you joined? What was positive, what was negative?
A lot has changed in this year and a half, we’ve lost a lot of artists to disappointment and gained a lot of new ones.
The strongest community is a major advantage, often self-regulating as a self-organization.
Of the negatives is plagiarism, which is not always monitored and both artists and collectors suffer from this. Since we are still early days, I think all the mechanisms will still be fine-tuned.
Where do you think NFTs will go in 5–10 years?
In 5–10 years I think NFT will be everywhere and will become a common and inseparable technology, because the prospects of application are endless. The same is true for Metaverse, it will gradually become part of everyday life.
Is there anything you’d like to leave readers with in closing?
Finally I would like to say: Stay strong. Stay abstract! It is possible!
Thank you very much for the interview Milana.
