Artist Spotlight: GŁOWA
Weekly spotlight on a new artist in the NFT ecosystem
This is the fifth instalment of a new weekly series in which I am going to spotlight a brand new artist along with their works while getting to know them better and understand their creative processes behind the pieces in more detail.
My name is Boffin and alongside flipping JPEGs for profit with the members of “The One” since day 1, I’ve also been collecting and connecting with these artists. The passion for their craft and the stories they have to share have been nothing but a treat to experience, and it’s with that intention that this series is being started to share those stories with the wider NFT audience.
This week the spotlight is on the Scottish Artist; Shaun, also known as “GŁOWA”. He is an audiovisual artist and I had the pleasure of chatting with him about capturing abstract concepts in still form, fatherhood and honing in on a style, while also showcasing a small preview into his creative process. You can (and really should) browse his entire portfolio here
Boffin (B): Can you please introduce yourself and what style of art you like to produce/specialise in?
GŁOWA (G): My name is Shaun Głowa and my artist’s handle is my last name GŁOWA. I'm an audiovisual artist in Edinburgh, Scotland. My work is predominantly short animations that have a strong focus on music.
B: When was the first time you heard of NFTs and why did you decide to take a leap into this world?
G: The first time I heard of NFTs was in September 2020 from a random Reddit comment under one of my works saying "hey, have you heard of NFTs? You could probably sell your work". I did some research and sent a pitiful application to SuperRare the next day. At the time I had no idea about anything, Haha.
Time went by, and I forgot about it until late January 2021. My newborn daughter needed to be rocked on my shoulder all night, to sleep at that time, and I would be on my phone trying to stay awake. I went down a rabbit hole of researching NFTs.
I remember buying ETH and looking at her and thinking what the fuck am I doing. I need to save money, but here I am dropping £200 on fuck knows what. Haha. I minted my first piece Rarible the next day... Then burnt it because of a spelling mistake (no sleep remember!). Never looked back after that.
B: Congratulations on your fatherhood! In a way, both your career in NFTs and the birth of your daughter happened at roughly the same time, so how would you say your work has been affected since the birth of your daughter? I’d imagine looking back, there are some interesting correlations there
G: Big time, although I hadn't realised it until looking back at the work I made at that time. Black Sun, one of the first pieces I made after she was born, the description reads "being drawn into something that is both incredibly beautiful and utterly terrifying at the same time". I have no better description of how I felt when I first looked at my daughter! haha.
B: Taking a step back and looking at the overarching themes of your works, there are certain themes which are favoured heavily in your works and the big ones are that of "Time" and "Light". What about these themes makes you create your pieces around them?
G: It's hard to talk about artworks without falling into clichés about emotions and feelings, but I'll do my best. I'm essentially interested in how audio and visual can work together to convey a feeling or a moment. That's where time comes into it. When we feel, it's fluid with time. It can change and evolve as we experience something. I love trying to capture these moments of feelings and transition in my work. That is why I call them "Singular moments in time".
As for the theme of light. You'll notice my work is fairly "lo-fi". I love the idea that these images are being picked up on the fringe of science. Like from a probe in deep space or a piece of equipment in the deepest depths of the ocean. In these dark places, like our psyche, only the brightest of lights shine through for us to pick them up on an image. I never consciously went for this style, I kind of fell into it.
B: Would you say that there has been a piece (or pieces) of yours in which you designed the audio first and then built the piece around that? As you’ve said, your pieces are a collaboration between audio and visuals after all.
G: My usual process is actually to make the audio at the same time as the visuals. I sit with both programs open and go back and forth, building the experience and following the threads that interest me. Even if I physically make the music or visual first, I'm always building the other in my head. So I guess they are always made in unison.
B: Speaking of collaborations, your pieces are built around visuals & audio in unison. As such how have you found the process of collaborating with other artists? After all, there is now another person with their own identity and style in the mix.
G: I come from a filmmaking background where collaboration is a given. So moving into this space and working with others felt really natural. I don't feel precious or guarded about my style or process and I'm really interested in how best to express an idea or feeling through audio (music) and visual (animation). I've found that others that I have collaborated with in the space have been the same so it's been a really positive experience and I've leant so much from some incredible artists.
I would firstly like to thank GŁOWA for giving me the time so this spotlight could be made possible! You can browse their entire portfolio here and follow them on Twitter @_GLOWA_
Thank you to everyone for tuning in to read this. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have to craft this. Tune in next week when there will be a new artist spotlighted and new conversations to be shared.