From Ephemeral to Eternal: The Artistic Journey of Violet Bond | NFT CULTURE | NFT News | Web3 culture

by James · April 21, 2023

Violet Bond is an artist from the Indigenous Community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory, Australia. Her interest in ephemeral art led her to experiment with NFTs, where she found a new way to sell her work. She is also an advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians. Her style is guided by authenticity and a desire for the audience to feel that they are experiencing her work. She creates ephemeral sculptures from found objects and ceramics from wild clay. Violet Bond plans to return home to create a work focused on fire, involving indigenous dancers and other artists from her hometown, and creating a new work for SuperRare. She regularly makes her mark at Objkt and has sold her artworks at Foundation.

Table of Contents

Where are you from?

I grew up in the indigenous community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory, Australia. A wild place far from anywhere – closer to Indonesia than Sydney. Where seeing crocodiles is as common as seeing cows and where it’s just hot and wet or hot and dry and people live life by the wild sea.

🧵Hello 👋🏼 My name is Violet
I am a performance artist and photographer living in remote Australia. My work focuses on the human connection to the natural word and the cycle of life and death in wild places 🖤☠️🖤

Here are some of my works and a little about how I made them 👇🏼🧵 pic.twitter.com/6ppR6ERC5x

— Violet Bond.tez 🏴‍☠️💎 (@VioletBondArt) 22 September 2022

Can you tell us about your background and what led you down the path to becoming an artist and eventually experimenting with NFTs?

I have always been interested in Ephemeral Art after discovering Andy Goldsworthy in high school. It was the first time I realized that you could make beautiful things and send them back to the dust and it could still be called art.

I loved the idea that these ephemeral works of art could be made permanent by the blockchain and wanted to experiment more with that idea.

When did you make your first NFT? Which platform did you choose and why?

Although the first platform I ever read about was Kalamint (On Tezos), I eventually drifted on Open Sea because my friend Aslan Ruby was around at the time and was able to guide me through the crazy world of NFTs in the early days.

Can you tell us one thing you can’t live without? (and why)

The wild places (and coffee)
Honestly, the longer I spend in cities, the more I realize our control and dominion over the natural world. We contain it and limit it everywhere – once you see the control you can’t see it, and I long for the places that are wild and raw and authentic in all their lack of control.

Who is your favorite artist(s) (Not NFT)? What about their style resonates with you

Ana Mendieta
Everything, her constant desire to “”return to the source of life”” in all her work and how she places herself in the landscape in a momentarily fleeting way is magical to me. If I ever make anything half as good as her, I’ll die happy.

Who is your favorite NFT artist? What makes this artist unique?

I think at the moment I’m deeply in love with the stop motion animation created by @ainslie7 whose masterful work captures my heart.

What made you pursue NFT art?

Many things, but the most important is that it meant I could actually sell ephemeral art in a meaningful way. No need to make postcards or photo books like other ephemeral artists, but I could actually sell my work in a whole new way.

I remember in my early 20’s going to an exhibition where an artist was selling a video loop of birds in flight as a limited edition of 10. He was selling the work on CDs.
I’ve never forgotten it, I wonder if he’s in the NFTs now…

What is the one NFT you wish you had bought but missed out on

Without a doubt, the Ben Zank I wanted in January 2022.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why this location?

I would take my father back to Antarctica. He spent a year there in the 60’s and it is an adventure I would love to do with my sons.

What are your other passions besides art? Why?

Advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians.
Australia has a hell of a history when it comes to its First Nations people. There is so much work to be done to change that in the future.

Do you make other forms of art?

I create ephemeral sculpture from found objects and ceramics from wild clay.

Are you self-taught or trained?

Both.
I studied graphic design and photography, but learned ceramics and sculpture through trial and error (many late nights on youtube)

How did you arrive at your specific style?

I tried very hard to always lean into what was authentic, what was real, what was most unfiltered—mess and dirt and all that.
I always want the audience to feel like they were standing there with me. It has been my guiding light to this point.

I also always let the environment dictate the work and try to go out into the wild places and let the work just ‘happen’.
Too much planning is usually my enemy.

How has your style evolved over the years?

There are threads that have always held true. I used to play with bones and shells and a child, and I have always been inspired by the mastery that Indigenous Australians have over nature and natural objects. I’ve seen people go into the bush with nothing but their hands and come out with masterpieces – it was an endless fascination for me.