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Lichiban is a creative director, photographer, designer and visual artist. Her professional artist journey began in New York City, where she lived and worked as an exhibiting painter for a few years, and then continued in Los Angeles, where she started exploring new avenues of expression such as photography and digital art. Lichiban creates digital art NFTs as her avatar, Maniko, and photography NFTs as Lichiban. She is also the founder and creative director of Studio LXR, a mission-driven creative studio based in Los Angeles.
Do you believe that digital exhibitions such as Oarbt are capable of providing an immersive and enjoyable experience?
Yes absolutely. I enjoyed building my gallery, and I think Oarbt is a great way to showcase one’s work, especially digital NFTs. I think in the future everyone who has an NFT collection and will want to display it in their own gallery. Oarbt not only fosters a growing community of artists and collectors but it also helps artists like myself to get a wider exposure to a global audience. I’m very grateful for this opportunity to get featured, thank you!
How did you discover a passion for the arts?
Art has always been my favourite way of expressing myself since I was a kid. I liked to paint and draw my own comic books, and eventually started getting recognized for my work. By the time I was a teen, I was fully immersed and would spend all my time making art, going to art shows and reading everything I could find about art and spirituality, from ancient to contemporary.
What has been your favourite thing about working in the arts?
My favourite thing about art is how it makes me feel when I’m creating. Art making have always been the most natural way of expressing myself, it is when I feel like I’m in flow, when I’m most aligned with my true self. It reflects in the people, my community of friends that surround me as well.
How do you stay creatively inspired?
I meditate, take walks in nature daily and let my imagination flow. I study the greats, and make sure that I am making a habit of creating something every day. Being on social media, I get to be exposed to some of the coolest art daily, which definitely makes me want to create more.
What reasons influenced the choice of art media that you work with?
My favourite medium is light. Photography is, in a way, an extension of my painting practice. I feel like I’m using light and colours to paint on my subjects. I do art, fashion, and editorial photography, and what I love most about it is that it’s immediate and it’s collaborative. I also like digital art which is the perfect bridge between my analog drawings, photography, and design. Digital art gives me an opportunity to go deeper into the fantasy dimension of my work.
What has your most recent or favourite project been so far?
My upcoming NFT project, PARADIGM SHIFT, which explores my lifelong interest in the intersection of art, identity, fashion, fantasy, spirituality, wellness, and future technologies.
On average, how often do you organise exhibitions?
I’ve had my work featured in a number of irl exhibits in New York, Miami Art Basel, LA, as well as other cities, but I haven’t had an online art show before.
Tell me about the exhibition(s) you're displaying on Oarbt. What are the primary themes of the exhibition(s)?
My exhibit on Oarbt features work from my PARADIGM SHIFT series. Among the works is KATALYST 1.0, my first audio-visual NFT collaboration with amazing music artist Lambo Mach. KATALYST 1.0 is the first instalment of a series of NFT works drawing on themes of awakening, flow, activation, and sound healing. Using the art of spiritual storytelling, Katalyst represents the power to overcome blockages, transform, and realise our full potential. We will donate 50% of our sales to the WUTW Foundation, a 501c3 educational company dedicated to create innovative courses on creative entrepreneurship, mobile filmmaking, financial literacy, crypto & web3 to young creators. I’m excited to support WUTW in getting more creative kids explore web3! Some of the other works in the exhibit, like the GEM Tokens and the Year of the Tiger, are teasers for a new NFT collection minting this month.
How has Oarbt provided an effective way of showcasing your art?
I love Oarbt! I discovered it while I was looking for a way to showcase my NFT collection online. It's super easy and fun to create an online gallery that is linked to your web3 or web2 art stores. I like that I can embed my gallery and offer my own exhibit experience via my personal website. The art world is changing rapidly, and it's exciting to see Oarbt pushing the limits of innovation and creating a bridge between artists and collectors.
Of all the artworks in your exhibition, which is the most meaningful to you and why?
KATALYST 1.0 is the most meaningful to me of all the pieces in the exhibit. I chose Katalyst for my genesis NFT piece since it was the character that helped me during times of creative transitions. I painted her when I moved from NYC to LA. I left an amazing art community in NYC, and had to restart my whole creative journey and rebuild my life in LA. In NYC, I had spent years as an exhibiting artist exploring my feline fantasy universe, Katapulko, and had built my brand as a painter. When I came to LA, I had to face that I wasn’t creatively fulfilled doing the same thing, and to allow myself to explore other ways to feel alive & inspired with my art. Katalyst represents the energy that I needed to fearlessly move forward into the unknown, which is why I painted her as soon as I moved into my place in LA. I started experimenting with digital art and used my paintings as starting points. I remember the sense of breakthrough I got from transforming Katalyst digitally. It made me really happy, it was my personal aha moment of realising the possibilities that digital art opened to me. I started exhibiting at the Los Angeles Centre for Digital Arts, and I even got a winning spot as one of ‘Ten Artist To Watch’ featured artists. I did a whole series of digital feline fantasy, but a few years ago there was no nftcommunity and web3 yet to value them the way they are today. I feel like I finally found the platform and community to share my work!
Do you believe that digital exhibitions such as Oarbt are capable of providing an immersive and enjoyable experience?
Yes absolutely. I enjoyed building my gallery, and I think Oarbt is a great way to showcase one’s work, especially digital NFTs. I think in the future everyone who has an NFT collection and will want to display it in their own gallery. Oarbt not only fosters a growing community of artists and collectors but it also helps artists like myself to get a wider exposure to a global audience. I’m very grateful for this opportunity to get featured, thank you!
To view the exhibition, click here.
