Other World

Digital artist Other World is known for his contemporary renditions of classical paintings, all rooted in his abiding motto: “Dark art with bright colors”. He’s based in Los Angeles but keeps most of his identity secret, and first made waves in the NFT community during the pandemic. Having recently completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering, he has dedicated his life to full-time art - a rare professional combination that uniquely serves his practice. He states “Science has played a big role in shaping my view of life and morality which bleeds into my art unconsciously”. Although Other World never attended art school, he has been engaged with art his whole life. As a child, he loved to draw characters in humorous or violent scenes, and today, this hobby is still a cornerstone of his practice, with hooded figures he calls ‘fiends’ appearing in nearly all of his works. Growing up, Other World watched his mother re-create Renaissance paintings through crochet, another early influence still visible in his work today.

“I ask myself, why am I always drawn to the dark side of life?” This question is one that continues to elude the artist even as his practice evolves and develops. “My art is a continuous story about society and human beings, particularly the darker side of that,” he says. War, violence and suffering surface throughout his oeuvre, albeit in a satirical way, like, for example, in Play Time (2024), when a giant hand holds out a gun to a group of smaller fiends all fighting amongst themselves. It's a scene that packs the juxtaposition typical in Other World's work: old vs new, dark vs light, tragedy vs humour. For his 2024 collection, Visions, Other World intentionally brought a sense of hope into his work. Believe Again (2024), his favourite piece from the collection, is free of violence and has a radiating angel as its central focus, a gentle and welcome reminder to himself and to others that “through all the tragedy there is still hope."