Artist Spotlight: Kaii
At the beginning of my digital art journey on Solana, I met Kaii, and we instantly hit it off with our love for adding minimal stairs to our pieces. From then, over a year ago to now, we have been aiming for a collab, and it's now time to release this magical Platform Peril.
Today I am pleased to get to know Kaii deeper in this artist spotlight. Copenhagen-based architect & artist Rekai (Kaiiart_) has been abstracting worlds through a blend of architecture and art in his Minimalist-Geometric abstraction works.
Without further ado, let's jump in.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Born Zimbabwean, South African, now Australian, living and working as an Architect in Copenhagen, Denmark. Started creating art as a creative outlet that spiralled down the rabbit hole that is NFTs. My art Minimalist-Geometric abstractions have been a blend of my love for architecture and art.
2. How do you get into your creative zone?
Getting into the creative zone has been the easy part. Working in a creative industry and being able to fluidly move into my art has meant getting out of the creative zone is the difficult part. I find the pressure of creativity is made simpler by having a predetermined time for when "creatively" starts. Not allowing any other external factors to impact that, and just knowing that from 9:00 - I am at my desk, creating.
3. When in the flow, what does your process look like?
My process has been heavily influenced by my day job. Sketching, reiterating, getting feedback and reiterating once more. I frame everything as a design problem, my art and my architecture. I formulate a problem, understand its limitations, and create unique solutions. It may sound somewhat rigid, but the process is seldom linear, and I often find myself starting over when new ideas present themselves.
4. Tell us about your Esther piece?
My Esther piece has been a long time coming, a collaboration formed over mutual interest, background and love for simplicity. The piece is heavily inspired by my Minimalist-Geometric abstractions style, striking a difficult balance between positive and negative space while remembering to keep the "game level" achievable. The layering of the solid forms played a massive part in the composition of the piece, and my style lends itself well to the Easther universe.
5. What are you most excited about in web3?
Mainly the positive social impact "Digital Gold" and decentralization will play in developing counties like Zimbabwe and other African counties that are rich with knowledge and recourses but face rampant corruption and income inequality. I hope this boom in Web3 has some positive trickle-down and that many people break the cycle of poverty. That would be exciting.
6. What's the most significant learning experience you've had in web3?
Unfortunately, Web3 has made me wary of many things, and I have learnt (thankfully not the hard way) that scams are ramped up in Web3. Taking one's personal security very seriously and being extra vigilant of suspicious bold claims, strange links and bad actors. I wish my learnings were more positive, but the scams have soured all positive growth Web3 has brought.
Kaii, it's been fantastic to get to know you throughout the year, and I am so happy to have collaborated with you on this Platform Peril. If you want to contact Kaii, you can find him on Twitter here.
