She is inspired by the rustic Indian woman -- the village belle, the ordinary housewife doing her chores, a moment from the life of a rural everywoman.
Her fascination with the village ladies of India grew over time while working for the rural banking sector.
Several years since quitting her banker life, ‘job’, Swarnali Singh, 39, has recreated her passion for the village woman in the universe of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT).
She mints on platforms like WazirX and Kalamint. Her NFTs are a series of digital paintings on the rural Indian woman. And they already stand out for their unique theme and palette. A woman doing her ‘sringar’ or another one washing clothes or cooking and so on are the subjects of her vivid NFTs floating in the Blockchain universe.
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For Durga Puja, Swarnali has minted a Durga NFT – perhaps the only one so far from India.
“Ï gave up regular work five years ago and started exploring art. I am an untrained artist. I eventually discovered some tools for creating digital art on my Ipad and started experimenting,” said Swarnali who now lives in Chandigarh.
“ Eventually, one thing led to the other and I discovered the world of NFTs. I joined a few crypto-communities. Started learning about the currency. Over the last month or so have minted NFTs on two platforms. They are doing well, even as I have not promoted them widely,” said Swarnali.
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Why are all her NFTs about women?
“It is just a subject that comes naturally to me when I want to create. Women are strong, they are hardworking and they have inner power. My digital paintings being of ordinary women, are expressive and make a statement about a woman’s presence,” she said.
The Durga NFT too was a tribute in the way her NFTs are tributes to women.
“What better way to pay tribute to Durga than to make art on her. That was the reason that I minted the Durga NFT – this is my own way of celebrating Durga Puja,” she said.
The Durga NFT is now on crypto marketplace, WazirX.
The low entry barriers of the NFT world have opened opportunities for free creative expression among digital artists.
“Anybody can enter the world of NFT and put up their work for the world to see. It is about how technology friendly an artist to be able to seize the opportunity on Blockchain,” she said.
So what should an artist typically do before minting tokens?
“It is very important to develop a signature style in the NFT world because there is already so much taking place. People will collect your work if you stand out. To begin with, one must get thoroughly interested in the crypto-world, sign up for a platform and then start minting. Join a few communities and start putting up your work fearlessly – people will respond,” said Swarnali.
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There are multiple platforms for artists to market their NFTs: WazirX, OpenSea, Kalamint and so on.
“Choose one platform or several, see what works for you,” she said.
Indian artists are speedily getting on to the NFT space, some traditional artists are creating a mark in the token world with digital versions of their work.
“There is no harm starting small. I have minted 10 NFTs in about a month. But I am sure I will continue to mint,” she said.
Her single advice to all creators: You have a penchant for making art? Mint.
