Stephanie Telemaque is an avid art and NFT collector. A Cool Cat, Fame Lady Squad, World of Women, and pink fur BAYC 6313 splash across her Twitter banner. The Damien Hirst she owns sits prominently in the sea of her business-savvy Tweets. Her social aesthetic and presentation are immaculate — full of sophisticated project images, breathtaking personal photos — all with the chic elegance of a New York City art director.
“I’ve always collected art, I started really young. While my friends were buying Carnival costumes in Trinidad, I was saving to buy my first Boscoe Holder,” Stephanie says.
Wisdom and business sense emanate from her daily writing. Her energy is equal parts old-soul, empath, and cutting-edge businesswoman. She is at the forefront of her industry and her gift of empath takes her branding expertise to another level of understanding how our emotional connections and identity manifest.
Her early creative pursuits led her to two extraordinary career experiences — as well as straight into NFT.
“I attended Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, GA, to study Advertising with a focus in Art Direction but finished my degree at the Hong Kong campus and graduated in 2015,” says Stephanie.
“From there I worked in government communications in Trinidad, designing and building brands for design studios, and as a freelancer. That led to working alongside and collaborating with one of the best designers I know, and also my best friend Lily Marshall. Through that, we founded Marq Studio New York. We work with brands and founders to design, build and position their brands in the digital space.”
She was introduced to NFTs through Twitter in the crypto space and she thought the concept was interesting but did not dig too deep into it. Then months later she met her partner, Stephen, and they bonded over art collecting. He’s been heavily involved in crypto since 2012 and manages Stephanie’s portfolio — together they saw Bored Ape Yacht Club and loved the aesthetic. They bought into the secondary market in May of 2021.
“My experience in BAYC has been incredible, really. It’s been a masterclass in what building a community should be, what an ideal social media world should look like in terms of positivity, teamwork, networking, and supporting other people without judgment. I also love meeting women in the space who are putting their voice and perspective out there and making waves. These connections are the best part for me.”
Connecting is what Stephanie does best and she’s carved a niche intersection of NFT and branding as an Art Director at the Caribbean’s first-ever NFT Production Company, “Creator Labs,” specializing in NFTs, Metaverse Wearables, Digital Events, and Experiences.
“Creator Labs is Stephens’ company with his business partner Kirk Garner. Essentially we help artists and brands create their ideas that exist or (that sometimes don’t exist) in the physical space and transport them into the digital world,” says Stephanie.
Stephanie explains that there is a brand-building process that must take place when bringing in new artists or brands into NFT to build trust with the people already in the community.
“For brand building, I see NFTs as a whole new space for brands and artists to explore. I’d love to help build that connection between social media, advertising, and the metaverse through Creator Labs. My roles at Marq and Creator Labs are very similar. It doesn’t change much between both companies. I’m always making sure that the vision, message, and visuals are aligned and consistent.”
Creator Labs is currently featuring the bubblewrap artwork of artist, Bradley Hart.
“He creates these insane pieces by injecting acrylic paint into each bubble of bubble wrap, making these gorgeous pixelated hyperrealist artworks. For his first NFT project, the team is working on the collection ‘Injecting Seurat on the Blockchain’ by building bubble wrap using Cinema 4D and digitally injecting the paint, in the same manner Bradley would do in his studio.”
His highly inventive use of everyday material is so unique. Immediately I have a visceral reaction and of course, my first instinct is to let me pop the bubble wrap! But after seeing his injected bubble wrap as an impressionist masterpiece completely blew my mind.
“We’re actually working on a few projects personally, and of course as Creator Labs. There’s an AI-generated art project that we’re working on at the moment, a game concept, and a beverage company based around BAYC #6313.”
I ask if she knew the moment she laid eyes on her ape if she was “The One”?
“I definitely felt drawn to my ape, she’s just so aesthetic with her yellow halo and earring and sad eyes. GORGEOUS DARLING, GORGEOUS!”
Since becoming a full-fledged BAYC member, Stephanie has launched a brand product for her pink fur ape called, “Pink Ape Cider.” The idea came up in conversation, and then it never left her head.
“We would love anything built by the ape community, rather than just letting larger brands come in and bank on the authentic community we’ve all participated in building. Not saying that we don’t welcome brands, but just that it would be nice to see apes building brands in the physical world as well. In the future, we’re also looking at Hard Seltzer, CBD gummies, and more.”
I’ve learned this is a common sentiment amongst BAYC owners. Rather than let them immediately land in the laps of corporations, they have a strong inclination to create something new and different in the personal brand space. We are in an era of creative control we haven’t quite seen in a while as a result of big business representation.
“This space really makes me feel included, and hopeful that there are like-minded creatives that just want to consume art, and support each other. There are a lot of people in the space that really inspire me for their forward-thinking like; Lady Phoenix, Gary Vaynerchuck, Avery Akinneni, Meltem Demirors, I could go on and on.”
Stephanie’s professional work and contribution to the BAYC community has only just begun and every day I look forward to her words of wisdom or her Retweets that give me a pause to ponder. She is on my daily inspo reading list and I hope she becomes yours, too.
