It's not everyday we hear about virtual avatars leaping into the real world...
When we heard about the project of Vera, a member of our Frenzoo 3D avatar community, we knew we had to share it with everyone.
After creating on the site for some time, Vera, an artist in real life, has gone ahead to create a series of paintings for exhibition in Netherlands...we interviewed Vera about this exciting project.
Please introduce and share a little about yourself?
Hi, i am Vera, at least on frenzoo i am ;)
I choose this nickname becouse my first dog was named Vera and i still think it is a beautiful name. My real name is Marleen and in real-life i am a painter and i studied artschool from 2003 till 2007 in the Netherlands, mostly i paint big paintings,the bigger the better! But i also love to draw, make collages and use photography. My inspiration comes from all the things i see around me, like the colours, shapes, people, animals, the city and nature.
The artist that i really like are Picasso, Alexander Calder, Lucien Freud, Matisse, Laura Owens, o and ofcourse my favorite: the musician Beck :D
From age 6 i learned to make clothing from my mother, and i make most of my own trousers and shirts, i am not good at jackets and dresses at all haha. So one day i will go follow a course to get better skills and i am still dreaming of making my own collection of fashion in the future. Yes big dreams i know
Tell us about the project, what is it?
At this moment i am drawing an frenzoo-inspired art project, i don't have a good name for it yet but the work is going to be a series of avatars, inspired on my avatar Vera and some of the things i designed here on frenzoo.
The best way to explain i guess is: avatar selfportraits. The technique i use is acrylic paint and black crayon on paper with bright colors and dark lines.
What was your inspiration for the project?
The idea for this project came in my head because i find it so strange that you can identify yourself with just a doll on the internet that isn't real and the fact that you can make friends with people you will never get to know in real life. And it fascinates me to see how people dare to be themselves on the internet, because in real-life that is not accepted a lot of the time.
Or in my case, in real-life i don't have the skills to make the clothing i like or have the money to buy them, so i cant wear what i would really like too.
The strange thing is most people see an internet avatar as a fake-you, but most of the people in reallife are not really themselves either, because of lots of things that just wont be accepted by our society.
Why do you use Frenzoo?
Well i started on frenzoo because i was really bored, i had to rest a lot after having had surgery in January and i couldn't really paint or anything at that time, so i really liked being able to be creative through the createtool on frenzoo and i got totally addicted .
Then in February i could draw again an i made a new collage for an exhibition. In march i had to have a second surgery and had a lot of time again to be on frenzoo. Now i am recovered and i have to combine frenzoo with my real-life again and i cant be online very often anymore, but whenever i have a couple of hours i try to create a few new items for the shop :D
Any suggestions or advice for any other artists or designers out there?
Be creative and don't be afraid to fail because you will learn the most from your mistakes!
Thanks Vera, and we can't wait to see the final exhibition art!
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