FEATURE ARTIST
NewColossal
Mario is a 3D Artist/Designer from Toronto, Canada that operates under the alias NewColossal.
NewColossal is creating alternate realities through portraits of the objects that inhabit them. Inspiration for these highly detailed and materially realistic objects comes from pop culture, technology, and industrial design. The resultant pieces are often caught in a space between nostalgia and fiction. Each of these pieces builds on the last, providing an ever growing window into something greater and undiscovered.
READ Our Q&A with newcollosal Below
newcolossal, untitled (detail)
What have you been up to, what have you been working on over the last year?
Over the last year I’ve been juggling both my business and creating crypto art. Before last year I had been working mostly on product visualisation, concept art, and marketing, but once I received invitations from a few platforms at the start of 2021 it marked a pretty significant change in what I would be working on day-to-day. I found it to be a great opportunity to explore more personal ideas and share them with collectors while simultaneously providing services to augment other people’s ideas.
Tell us a bit about your art practice and any key themes throughout your work
I always try to be aware of the small realistic details in my modelling that would bring tangibility to something still digital. I like to create objects with seemingly familiar attributes that might exist in a different reality from this one. These pieces are often vignettes of strange toys, robots, or accessories – Having little-to-no context apart from the thing itself.
What have NFTs enabled for you? (economically, creatively, community wise)
As a digital artist they have allowed me to provide work for people to collect in the format native to its creation. Especially when it comes to animations – Proof of ownership can be obtained for the animation itself rather than picking out a still frame and physically printing/mailing it to a collector, which would only be a snapshot of the intended work.
How have NFTs informed your art practice?
They have given me the opportunity to be a bit more adventurous and take more risks with the kind of work that I pursue. Before crypto art I had never thought to put work up for sale or imagined that there would be people willing to own something I created!
Who/what are your biggest influences and where do you find your inspiration for your art?
Videogames, Toys, Movies, and artefacts from the manufactured world in general. I’ve taken great inspiration from my product practice outside of art, as well as my love for novelty collector’s items from my childhood.
Can you share any plans for upcoming projects?
Expect more strange toys!
Don’t miss seeing NewColossal NFTs at Satellite 2022
A month-long, digitally immersive and sensory experience Bringing together over 40 NFT artworks from leading influential Australian and international artists, in Bondi Beach this March.
