Project Venus — Art That Inspires
In the emerging world of NFT markets, “ART” has always been one of the pillars of our collective focus, and yet, as investors grapple with the fact that money plays a major role in our market, the pillars of business, profit, and utility quickly overshadowed the art that first captured our attention.
When an artist breaks that mental pathway, bringing us back to earth with impactful, raw, emotionally charged art, it is an authentic breath of fresh air that rebuilds that pillar, transcending our wallets, rekindling an innate desire to connect to each other, and to understand a story that is deeper than the pixels. fART (@cnftfart) has given us that gift with “Project Venus,” an art collection that is not only anchored by her incredible and unique continuous-line portraits, but by the story of inner acceptance, strength, and forgiveness that it encapsulates.
Long before “Project Venus” had a title, fART began experimenting with self portraits in what would soon become the signature style of her collection.
As she would share in the months to come, it was a way to explore and appreciate her body after being a victim of sexual assault, committed by a person who was a trusted friend, nearly 8 years prior. In the years between the assault and the inception of “Project Venus,” fART spent endless hours unpacking the immense trauma that lingered, advocating for victims of assault, and journeying the intimidating road of feeling safe within a blanket of self-love, again. She shared stories of her eating disorder that arose from the void that remained after that event, gaining weight to make herself less of a target for a similar attack, and then subsequently purging to lose over 100lbs during that span. She shared her story of a burden that never truly lifted and how finding love for her body again - one line at a time - was therapeutic in a way that words, or therapy couldn’t quite match.
Art had allowed her to start to heal on the deepest of levels.
(fART’s story in her own words)
As she shared her explorative art with friends, both from her life outside of the NFT space as well as Web3 friends, she received a request from one of those women; “Please draw me as well.” After agreeing to do a portrait of her friend, weeks went by, and the nude photo for reference hadn’t been sent. It wasn’t a matter of trusting fART to keep it safe, or that her friend decided they didn’t want fART to capture her body with her portrayal, but explained after fART inquired again and again, “I dislike my body, and avoid photos and social media for that very reason.” At that moment, fART shared her story with her for the first time, and what lead to the creation of the art that she appreciated and wanted to be represented by. She sent the photos to fART, and a day later, she received the first completed work of what would evolve to become “Project Venus.” The response was overwhelmingly positive, and fART received messages about how she shared the art with her boyfriend, and her mother, and could see what many around her already saw.
Art had allowed her to accept and see her beauty.
Having witnessed firsthand the impact that her art had on not only herself, but another, she was driven with purpose to help other women that wanted to see themselves captured, in a perfect moment in time, as confident, beautiful, and free of the sexual gaze that is perpetuated throughout depictions of the nude female form via our societal skew. Born out of the powerful realization of what she set into motion, and what it could mean to women with body dysmorphia, survivors of assault, those struggling with eating disorders, and those that wanted to be captured by fART’ s phenomenal lines - “Project Venus” had truly begun.
Art had a purpose beyond the asset.
Over the next 6 months, 20 separate line drawings were created (with an additional 3 self-portraits of fART) and led those models to embark on a journey of self-acceptance and love as well. The models were her real friends from Web2 and Web3, celebrating women of all shapes, sizes, and orientations. Just as fART had shared her story with each of them before she began each piece, the models shared pieces of themselves, mirroring all too tragically the same battles that she and other women face through their experiences, trauma, and what remained of their self-image. She bonded with each woman, cried with them, and celebrated them. They walked arm in arm out of that dark and damaged cave, together, into the natural light of seeing themselves with love and confidence they each fought to internally illuminate.
Art helped to access and mend the damaged corners of the soul.
On September 20th , 2022, the 8-year anniversary of her assault, fART launched “Project Venus,” which sold out in 31 minutes. A day that she reserved for herself each year to cry and mourn the horrific event that took her peace and love for herself, transformed into a day to celebrate each year moving forward. That day, September 20th , was the day she triumphed over any remaining, deep-rooted torment that was forced upon her body, mind, and heart, and she shared that experience with 17 different friends that modeled, hundreds of collectors, and an emerging ecosystem that will forever immortalize 555 pieces of a collection that did far more than simply exist on the market.
Art, in fART’s digital dance of lines, granted a return that was far greater than a monetary expectation.
“Project Venus” built others up, and made them better - loved and worthy in their own eyes. The measure of that impact is invaluable, one that no calculator could dare to quantify. That pillar of our market, the ART, was exposed again under the same light of significance that fART instilled in each heart she touched, and the masterpiece that culminated through an 8-year long battle, turned victory, will live on to inspire countless others to come.