Natasha “POST WOOK” Chomko is a Los Angeles-based digital artist focused on landscape collage art with a psychedelic flair.
Natasha Chomko creates art under the pseudonym POST WOOK, originally a nickname given to her as an inside joke with friends that eventually came to represent the artist’s transition into adulthood. First experimenting with drawing and painting, she picked up collage at age 12 and has returned to the medium as her go-to outlet for self-expression ever since.
After graduating university with a bachelor’s degree in political science and working in politics, she began to feel creatively starved — turning back to collage for a fix and developing a signature surrealist style, aiming to please the palates of both seasoned psychonauts and “average Joes” alike. Freeing her inner child through art was therapeutic, and she was later reinvigorated by the opportunities presented by NFTs. Strongly invested in the future of digital art and decentralization, her fascination with copyright and open-source content drives her dialogue in the Web3 community — and she is committed to helping bridge the gap between art and technology.
Chomko made her Crypto.com NFT debut as part of the “Alternate Reality” exhibition-style collection curated by Hannah Stouffer, founder of visual services studio H+ Creative, in July 2021. A year later, in June, she returned to the platform for an ambitious solo drop titled “Ethereal Dreamworlds” — featuring both one-of-a-kind collectibles and pieces of varying rarity distributed among several art packs, each with a different theme. Crypto.com’s Hanna Camacho sent the collagist some questions about herself, her work and her experience in Web3.
“I feel like Web3 has really empowered me as a digital artist to be a digital artist, and that my older work doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s “expired” [in] the way that it’s felt on [social media].”
Natasha “POST WOOK” Chomko, Creator of “Ethereal Dreamworlds”
Read the Q&A with Natasha “POST WOOK” Chomko below and visit her Crypto.com NFT profile for more information.
Tell us about yourself.
I’m a digital collage artist based in Los Angeles, and I love being outside, scuba diving and tending to my plant collection. I started making collage art when I was 12, but I started taking art seriously after a few years of self-discovery — when I started creating art as POST WOOK. I use art as a form of therapy and a lot of my work encapsulates my past experiences, emotions and fears. My work is riddled with symbolism; each layer, theme, color and composition represents some aspect of my journey.
How would you describe your art?
In a sentence, I define my art as “contemporary surrealism collage art” — and I think that fits pretty well. I love making art with the moon, mountains and stylized color palettes to convey a message. I’m fascinated by underwater life and have a slightly fearful respect for outer space, so my work incorporates those aspects. A lot of the other symbolism in my work represents aspects of how I’m feeling.
Can you tell us about your creative process?
I make art in a few stages: layers, composition and editing. For the layers stage, I either source images or edit my own, cut out images and then save pre-cut files to cloud and hard drive storage. For composition, I typically get inspired by a specific layer or a color palette to start, or I listen to music to get out an emotion that I’m feeling. Sometimes I just throw things at the wall and see if anything sticks. Most of the time, I’ll start with one layer to inspire the piece and build from there. Ideally, I’ll make two to three pieces in one composition sitting, if I have time. For editing, I almost always take 12 to 24 hours between the composition and editing stages to determine if I need to make changes to the piece.
What can you share about “Ethereal Dreamworlds?”
“Ethereal Dreamworlds” is a drop that heavily played into the symbolism within my work. The drop is split into two sections: mystery packs and [one-of-one] auctions. All of the mystery packs are centered around thematic symbolism… The other side of the drop, the auctioned [one-of-ones], are some of my most iconic pieces of art. The auctions were quite fun to watch.
How has Web3 impacted the way you create?
I like that the blockchain is transparent, so I can create snapshots for collectors and showcase art in its natively digital form. I like how NFTs allow for clear descriptions within the metadata for editions, specs, [etc.] and have the ability to attach high-resolution files. I’m a big fan of how people have been displaying their digital art too. I feel like Web3 has really empowered me as a digital artist to be a digital artist, and that my older work doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s “expired” [in] the way that it’s felt on [social media]. It’s really an honor to have people collect work from all parts of my journey and find value in it.
Browse POST WOOK’s profile on Crypto.com NFT.
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Editor’s Note (Oct. 10, 2022): an earlier version of this article was originally published on Aug. 9, 2022 and has since been edited and/or updated.
