Rachel Wood is a photographer and AI artist working in both mediums as an NFT artist. She got involved in NFTs in late 2021 and published her first piece in December 2021 on the Foundation marketplace.
She bought her first camera in 2019 and hasn’t looked back since. She was inspired to become a photographer by her passion for traveling and seeing as many different cultures as possible. She has been to all seven continents. Traveling is her identity, and what she does is tell stories and dreams through her art.
Her curiosity about life is reflected in her artwork, as she aspires to encompass more of what the world offers.
Her upbringing was rustic and without technology, which spurred her curiosity and artistic ways. She has tried all modalities of art, from metalsmithing to ceramics to batiking and other forms.
She got started in AI in 2022 when she hit a creative rut, so she decided to sell her camera gear and decided to break out of her echo chamber. She is pushing herself to create beyond her photography and move past her creative blocks.
She said her art is a reflection of herself. For her photography, she said she loves to go to places that most folks don’t travel to. One of her favorite photos is of a Mongolian man drinking out of a tin cup — you can see the whole man’s life on his face. The lighting is sublime and the colors are rich.
She loves to find beauty in the noise. As a creator who’s also a collector, she collects visually arresting images. She has to love looking at it and what she sees as its visual value.
Her collecting style has changed over time, but what remains the same is that it has to be visually pleasing. More recently, she wants to know the artist a bit before collecting. Even if she loves someone’s art, and they aren’t kind or caring in the space, she won’t purchase their art.
I asked if she has a favorite artist, and she was hesitant to name any, but when I shared that I love Gustav Klimt, she said that she also loves his work and would love to meet him in the afterlife! She admires the work of Joe Cardamone, Stacy Sparkles, Phil Panda and Zay Yar Lin.
She said her favorite color is the rainbow but especially loves blue and red together.
If she could change one aspect of the NFT ecosystem what it would be? Her answer was that she wished artists were better equipped to handle selling their art. Art is the foundation of NFTs, but too many artists suffer at the hands of investors. Too many artists don’t know their options and fall into copying what they see as being successful instead of focusing on creating, she said.
She just released her newest collection, Queens of the East. It’s an AI-generated collection that is Rachel’s interpretation of what it means to be Asian.
And the message she wants people to take away from her work is that her art is more than a pretty picture. It’s a reflection of all that she is and all that she can be.
Listen to the full interview here!
Follow her on Twitter @RachelSTWood