It is with great fanfare that I announce my latest NFT drop today at the nftshowroom.com/julianhorack gallery. It’s an inspired work called “Window to the other side” completed this month. The theme of contrasting hot red and cool green is one I return to throughout my career as a collage artist over the past decades. As is the theme of treasures, seen this time in the gems to found at the ocean floor.
Religious iconography and imagery is a recurring theme too in much of my work and in today’s piece, it makes up the window through which the world’s are bridged. I imply it symbolically and indirectly since I’m not a Catholic, despite the use of cathedral stained glass window effect. There is even an image of Christ at the top of the window.
However, if you look just below Christ, to the left, in the dome, you can see a small image of Radha and Krishna, the chief divine couple in the Vedic tradition of ancient India. The concept was simply to create an effect, but the idea is that there are tools, there are paths that one can follow to facilitate bridging the gap between the mundane and the divine, or the conscious and the unconscious.
Here the idea is to suggest that access is being obtained as the gap is bridged between the two realms. And the lobster is not necessarily a reference to anything more than a creature with big arms to scoop up all the gems lying waiting on the ocean floor. This symbolizes the conscious mind, through dream recall or meditation, tapping in and accessing gems of wisdom or insight of which there are bountiful, in the unconscious realm.
The underwater acts as a frame for the central window and also symbolizes the unconscious realm of ourselves. It may be personal or collective unconscious, as Jung called them. These collage artworks usually make themselves, to a degree, as far as imagery is concerned. I simply look at the pictures I have in my magazines, and then whichever jumps out at me as interesting or captivating, I will use.
I then find a central image or theme and thereafter find the colors that match or compliment, adding layer upon layer to the overall depth and composition of the image. Sometimes color is more important than subject when I choose some of the contents of the work, but a general theme will predominate.
I minted 8 copies of today’s artwork as I like it so much, that I want more people to own a minted piece. I also priced it at 55 Hive, since I think it is a decent work and since there are 8 copies, I decided it is still valuable enough to charge a mildly decent amount for it, 55 Hive is only $17 at today’s exchange rate. I’m counting on the vision that in years to come Hive will be worth a lot more, and thus the value of the work will increase. Actually, one of the 8 tokens is available for 55 Hive, though I plan to sell the others for more. This is a first edition discount bargain to the first lucky buyer. Hereafter I will price the remaining few at near double the price.
So get your early collector’s discount. I will actually gradually increase the value of each individual minted piece that I sell off, out of the 8 in total. Thus the price will gradually rise, as each piece sells. It’s a concept I’m experimenting with, as I play with ideas of value along the way. After all, the value of any artwork is totally subjective, even if there is some percentage of technical skill in the particular genre of fine art depicted at the gallery.
I envision that in years to come – like a decade for example – NFTs and Hive blockchain will be more widely adopted and so these early minted NFTs will become more valuable with time. We are at a fairly early stage of the revolution that is just now exploding onto the scene, although it has been around since 2017 among gamers and certain crypto enthusiasts.
I find the description of the artwork very interesting. Iwent to take a look in the showroom at the other artworks. I must admit it's not really my cup of tea, but I definitely like the newest one the most. But that said, I am no art expert. I love the red and green and the symbolism you describe.
Best wishes.