Faith - it is so great to finally connect for an interview here. So eager to dive more into your world. To begin, can you introduce yourself to the ALLSHIPS community? Your name, where you are based and the mediums you work in?

Hiyah Dave! I’m Faith Love and I’m a visual artist based in the US. My medium of choice is an iPad x Apple Pencil combo but I also paint and do hand stitched embroidery- some of which I’ll be showcasing during my first solo show in NYC this month!

So exciting- can't wait to see it, and congrats on your first solo show! What are the details for the exhibition?

Exciting almost feels like the wrong word (because I’m feeling so many things) maybe I should make a word up LOL, but it still works for the less anxious folk!

“Sessions” presented by the one and only Superchief Gallery is an EXPERIENCE. It’s so much more than your screens on stark white walls, in-and-out, cookie cutter shows (no shade haha) my art is truly the star of the show.

I’m welcoming guests to truly FEEL when they arrive. The tension in the room should feel thick enough to CUT. I also want it to be unforgettable. When people consume my work after this show, it should hit different and rightfully so.

My journey unfortunately starts from almost 2 decades of childhood/teen and adult trauma. I used to be a writer and I guess I still am. I stepped into being an artist by writing poetry, 2-3 line pieces were my go to, so I’ve always approached creation from a minimalistic stand point.

Over the course of 2 years, I wrote a 55 page book of some of my most painful work… titled Poetry...as simple as it gets (lol) and self published it on February 4th, 2016. I sold 50 copies which for me at the time was HUGE. I kept writing but under an anonymous name on Wordpress and built a really large audience.

I spent most of my time writing about the challenges I was facing in life, to breakups, family issues, and personal traumas from my childhood that were effecting me directly. I eventually abandoned it because it started to feel like I was doing it for the readers and not myself anymore.

Fast forward 2017 I started painting whatever came to mind when I would FEEL SOMETHING and then I took it a step further and found this little app called Procreate and I went absolutely bananas (allegedly). I drew and drew and then I started posting on twitter and one of my pieces titled 'kissed by moonlight' went viral while I was at work. It was a very strange moment for me but it allowed to step fully into being that kind of artist and I absolutely ran with it.

I did a ‘drawing a day’ challenge and only lasted about 96 days but in that time I gained almost 20,000 followers in 3 months and that was an even crazier time. My style has changed a lot in my journey but all of the pieces boil down to mental health struggles and my battle with them.

Today my art is a much more in-depth look at the challenges that I face. I definitely feel like I’ve grown a ton in the last 8 years and that’s what fascinates me the most about my journey.

Wow- thank you so much for sharing the arc of your story here. I love to hear where the first seeds were planted, and I'm glad to hear that you've been able to take some of the hardest things and convert them into art experiences that I'm sure help other people as well. I'm excited to see the Superchief show as well.

How has web3 / art on blockchain enabled you? Has this technology changed the way you create and release your projects? Curious to hear.

My journey in Web3 started in 2020 and has been more of an expansion tool for me than anything else. I’ve had the opportunity to make a mark with mental health which is the entire theme of my work. It started off as something that I didn’t understand and has blossomed into a space that I adore. I also work in the space and so my conviction runs extremely deep.

I’m not minting as much as I used to back in the days because I’m moving with much more intention, but I’m still collecting work that I feel centers mental health and the struggles that we face as humans today. The tech is still very new so every day is an opportunity to learn. I hope I can try something new exciting this year that also leverages blockchain tech!

I always love to ask, what advice would you give a creative person who is earlier on their creative path?

Being an artist is taking a bet on yourself. When you take that bet, go in all the way, get lost even. But don’t give up when it gets tough.

Love that, and thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. To the reader, find everything Faith Love via her website and Twitter.