Ahead of the Venice Biennial, Artist Carrie Able Presents her Cosmic Love Genesis NFT Collection

Carrie Able’s work embodies the act of what it means to create in the digital age. The Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist utilises whichever tools necessary to form her universes: from painting to poetry, vocal chords to virtual reality. Able’s fluency has garnered attention among various realms across the globe - be it Forbes or getting scouted for the Venice Biennale’s Personal Structures 2022 Exhibition. Able stops at nothing to introduce her inner worlds.

Phosphorescent swirling clouds with outlines of bodies mid-twirl characterise Able’s aesthetic. This to-be signature style took shape in oil paintings and drawings early on in her career as an artist, but soon began to reveal themselves in Able’s digitally-created worlds too. Half a decade since adapting the digital medium, Able now presents her non-fungible token genesis collection with Electric Artefacts. Cosmic Love unveils chapters taken from her elaborate VR-paintings “Fluid Energy” and “Divine Dance”, available in drops starting Tuesday the 25th of May on Tezos-based NFT-platform hic et nunc.

“I started out from a very young age always drawing and painting. I definitely viewed myself primarily as a visual artist in my early career. I began doing music and virtual reality about five years ago and integrated them fully into my larger body of work. All of my practices inspire and inform each other.”

The ease with which Able adapts her visual language to any medium she works with is a testament to her talent, as well as a reflection of the workings of her mind. Able explains “I am ambidextrous and have synesthesia, so working across media makes a lot of sense for how my brain and body function.” Looking at Able’s work can feel like it is merely a glimpse into a complex cosmos that exists far away, independently of the artworks - as though Able fell into the rabbit-hole, and lived a lifetime amongst the most fantastical creatures and cultures, communicating in a sensory experience entirely outside the range of our own. Now she has found her way back to this world and is simply trying to convey her stories in the best way she can using mere mortal tools.

“Combining and expanding the practices of painting, music, performance, and virtual / augmented reality heightens my creative process. I prefer to work in a "stream of consciousness" and create in a transcendental state without references. For example, I will often be painting and a poem suddenly comes out almost as if taking dictation.”

Able’s artistic practice was born out of the basic human need for expression. The foundations of her work lie in wanting to share thoughts and emotions in a way that isn't limited to words. But Able also doesn’t want to limit herself to any single visual language either. The power of Able’s work lies precisely in the fact that such a fundamental and age-old motivator for art, creative expression, is presented through the most modern of mediums. Perhaps it explains why her work was selected for the Personal Structures exhibition, following the footsteps of visionaries such as Yoko Ono and Marina Abramović.

“I create art as a daily physiological necessity and wish for my work to bring joy, comfort, and hope to others, as it does for me. The interactive media / emerging technology components I use cause viewers to consider more traditional elements in a new light, while painting and sculpture lend their strong history and culture to the new terrain of mixed-reality (XR) art.”

Able is one of many artists pushing the boundaries of what we perceive as art, be that through VR or the booming world of NFTs.

“The NFT market and similar economies are incredibly important for artists who have digitally-native practices. Our work has been historically undervalued since we have to prove digital scarcity. Additionally, I want to bring up how few women are highlighted in the fine art world and this is the case still as we see the opportunity for digital arts' success unfold in the present market. This is a moment to celebrate and promote the work of female artists in the new media field.”

As noted earlier, Carrie Able’s work will be available over various drops on hic et nunc starting May 25th. Keep an eye on the Electric Artefacts website and socials to stay-up to date on the latest releases.

Join us May 25th “Women on the Verge of a Digital Breakthrough” on Clubhouse.

Cover image by Carrie Able, Divine Dance, 2021