From Ephemeral to Eternal: The Artistic Journey of Violet Bond

Violet Bond is an artist from the Indigenous Community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory, Australia. Her interest in ephemeral art led her to experiment with NFTs, where she found a new way to sell her work. She is also an advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians. Her style is guided by authenticity and a desire for the audience to feel like they are experiencing the work with her. She creates ephemeral sculptures out of found objects and ceramics from wild clay. Violet Bond plans to travel back home to make a body of work focused on fire, involve Indigenous dancers and other artists from her hometown, and create a new body of work for SuperRare. She regularly mints on Objkt and has sold her artwork on Foundation.

Where are you from?

I grew up in the Indigenous Community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory, Australia. A wild place a long way away from anywhere – closer to Indonesia than Sydney.Where seeing crocodiles is as common as seeing cows and where there is just hot and wet or hot and dry and people live their lives by the wild sea.

Hi I'm Violet
I'm a performance artist and photographer living in remote Australia. My work focuses on the human connection to the natural word and the cycle of life and death in the wild places

Here are a few of my works and a bit about how I made them pic.twitter.com/6ppR6ERC5x

— Violet Bond.tez (@VioletBondArt) September 22, 2022

Can you tell us about your background and what lead you down the path to becoming an artist and ultimately experimenting with NFTs?

I have always been interested in Ephemeral Art after discovering Andy Goldsworthy in high school. It was the first time I realised you could make beautiful things and send them back to dust and it could still be called art.

I loved the idea that these impermanent artworks could be made permanent by the blockchain and wanted to experiment more with that idea.

When did you mint your first NFT? What platform did you choose and why?

Although the first platform I ever read about was Kalamint (On Tezos) I ultimately minted on Open Sea because my friend Aslan Ruby was minting on there at the time and was able to walk me through the crazy NFT world in those early days.

Can you tell us one thing you cannot live without? (and why)

The wild places (and coffee)
Honestly the longer I spend in cities the more I realise our control and domination over the natural world. We contain it and constrain it everywhere – once you see the control you can’t unsee it and I yearn for the places that are wild and raw and authentic in all their lack of control.

Who is your favorite artist(s) (Non NFT)? What about their style resonates with you

Ana Mendieta
Everything, her constant want to “”go back to the source of life”” in all her work and how she places herself in the landscape in a momentary ephemeral way is magical to me. If I ever make anything half as good as her I’ll die happy.

Who is your favourite NFT artist? What makes this artist unique?

I think at the moment I am deeply in love with the stop motion animation made by @ainslie7 who’s masterful works capture my whole heart.

What made you pursue NFT art?

Lots of things but the main one being that it meant I could actually sell ephemeral art in a meaningful way. Not have to make post cards or photobooks like other ephemeral artist but I could actually sell my work in a completely new way.

I remember in my early 20ies going to an exhibition where an artist was selling a video loop of birds flying as a limited edition of 10. He was selling the work on CDs.
I never forgot it, I wonder if he is in NFTs now…

What is the one NFT you wish you had purchased but missed out on

Without a doubt the Ben Zank I wanted in Jan 2022.

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Why this location?

I would take my father back to the Antarctic. He spent a year there in the 60ies and it’s an adventure I would love to do with my sons.

What are your other passions besides art? Why?

Advocacy for the rights of Indigenous Australians.
Australia has a completely fucked up history when it comes to it’s First Nations people. There is so much work to do to change that going into our future.

Do you make other forms of art?

I make ephemeral sculpture out of found objects and ceramics from wild clay.

Are you self taught or trained?

Both.
I studied graphic design and photography but learnt ceramics and sculpture through trial and error (an lots of late nights on youtube)

How did you come up with your specific style?

I tried very hard to always lean into what was authentic, what was real, the things that were the most unfiltered – mess and dirt and all of it.
I always want my audience to feel like they were standing there with me. That has been my guiding light to this point.

I also always let the environment dictate the work and try to go out into the wild places and let the work just ‘happen’.
Lots of planning is usually my enemy.

How has your style evolved over the years?

There are threads that have always held true. I used to play with bones and shells and a child and I have always been inspired by the mastery that Indigenous Australians have over nature and natural objects. I have watched people walk into the bush with nothing but their hands and come out with masterpieces – it was an endless fascination to me.