Leather: How did you get started in Web3?

Buba: Like many of us who entered in 2021—by pure chance. I started seeing other artists and friends talking about NFTs and tried my luck. My work seemed to have an audience and I began to have enough financial independence to be able to forget about client commissions and take advantage of the creative freedom that this space offered me to focus on my personal work.

Leather: What inspired you to create the artworks for ‘Beyond The Rainbow’?

Buba: ‘Beyond the Rainbow’ stems from a previous series, ‘The Rabbit and the Snake’, in which I focus on the language that the subconscious uses during dreams to communicate with us. That inner dialogue and the symbols they use inspired me to start.

Then I decided that I had to give a these conversations a place to live on, and so ‘Beyond the Rainbow’ was born— the place where all these things happen. With each new work, I expand the lore and mythology of this space. I have the absolute freedom to depict whatever I want, from my deepest obsessions to the latest foolish thing that has occurred to me. Everything has a place here, because ‘Beyond the Rainbow’ is my home.

Leather: What impact do you ultimately hope to have with ‘Beyond the Rainbow’?

Buba: I don't have a clear long-term goal. Just to create sincere works of art that other people can connect with and enjoy. Works of art that, years from now, can all be put together and tell a common story.

I'm not an ambitious person either— in a bad way. I've been living from my work as an illustrator for more than a decade. Getting up every morning, dropping my daughters off at school, and going back to the studio to do what I love most in the world is a gift in itself, for which I give thanks every day.

Leather: What do you hope people take away from your work?

Buba: I would like them to feel identified in some way with the work. I speak of dreams, of the collective unconscious, but also of their own experiences and other universal themes encoded through common symbols. If I can connect with them in that way and make them feel that they are co-protagonists of some of the pieces, I will have achieved my goal.

Leather: From your perspective, how has the Ordinals art market evolved since its inception or the moment you entered it? 

Buba: To be honest, I think I'm the least appropriate person to conduct an analysis of any kind of market. I'm quite focused on my work, which is to create art. Technology still eludes me although I try to learn more every day.

What I can say is that an art market is clearly emerging beyond the PFP and that is why many artists began to take an interest in this new space. Everything we have learned on other blockchains, what worked and what could be improved, may have had a lot to do with its rapid development.

What has also helped is that a lot of developers have opted to make it easier for people with limited knowledge of this technology. The appearance of specific marketplaces like Gamma and Magic Eden – where you can inscribe pieces without having to be a real cypherpunk, as was the case when the protocol was launched – is another factor.

Leather: Where can we find and buy your ‘Beyond the Rainbow’ Bitcoin Ordinals? 

Buba: You can find them both in Gamma and in Magic Eden.