NFT art is a growing industry and market that has helped many talented artists expand their horizons and establish themselves globally.
Many of these artists come from our own shores, with their NFT art gaining worldwide recognition.
Some have even been showcased at international NFT exhibits and events.
Here are some homegrown Pinoy NFT artists you should check out.
Quiccs Maiquez
Quiccs is a world-renowned toy designer and visual artist from the Philippines.
His designer toys have won him several awards and even led him to collaborate with global brands and IPs such as Adidas, SecretLab, Voltes V, and Transformers, to name a few.
Quiccs has also expanded the Bulletpunk universe he created from his toy designs into not just NFT art but also an NFT game called Bulletpunk Bitwars.
His design influences stem from Japanese mecha, hip-hop, and graffiti.
Arman Kendrick
Arman Kendrick is an artist, industrial designer, toy designer, and storyteller born and raised in the Philippines.
He began his journey into toy design in 2015 and created his first original character, Tako Jimbo, in 2019.
The first collection of the Tako Jimbos sold out its first run, paving the way for the expansion of the Tako Jimbo Universe. He minted his first Tako Jimbo NFT in 2021.
Most of Arman’s works are heavily influenced by Asian cultures, such as Japanese and Chinese paintings and architecture, as well as anime.
His cultural influences can also be traced to the different media and objects that surrounded his childhood.
Bjorn Calleja
Bjorn Calleja is a Filipino contemporary painter and interdisciplinary artist. He earned his BFA degree from Far Eastern University and later became a part-time lecturer.
Calleja has exhibited his work at several solo and group exhibitions in the Philippines and abroad.
His work has also been published in two books, Toy Art 2.0 (2014) and Philippines: Inter Tropical Convergence Zone – Contemporary Artists from the Philippines (2014).
Calleja minted his first NFT in 2021 and has since been involved in personal and collaborative projects, including his Meaningless Animated Doodles and Stoopid Avatar projects and Strange Genesis with 1×1 and Bad Acid Bunch with Zootghost, to name a few.
Calleja’s work draws on identity, spirituality, art, general and personal history, and everyday politics.
It utilizes perspective and a play on a scale as metaphors for how we as humans affect the world at large.
His paintings, sculptures, installations, and animations are heavily influenced by ’80s and 90’s popular culture, kitsch, the internet, and the aesthetics and textures of Manila’s landscape.
Marso Ya
Marso is a fast-rising Filipino illustrator and NFT artist who has participated in several web3 exhibitions, such as Crypto Artweek Asia, Asiaverse, and NFT NYC.
She’s collaborated with notable NFT projects such as Deadfellaz and Jonathan Mann’s “song a day” and Wacom Philippines, Investagram, and the International Council of Registered Blockchain Professionals have invited her to share her expertise in bridging art and web3.
Marso studied Advertising at the Technological University of the Philippines, and her work has been described as a combination of playful pastel colors and precise geometrical lines that form flat and glass-like illustrations that depict magical, fantastical, and imaginative alternate realities.
Sevi Agregado
Sevi Agregado is a 9-year-old Filipino artist who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. He took up art therapy at age 5 and has been painting ever since.
Sevi’s continued therapy has improved his focus and attention, ability to follow instructions, and patience, as well as his comprehension and verbal communication, among other things.
As the first Filipino kid NFT artist, Sevi has featured his work in virtual and physical NFT galleries in Chicago, IL, and Singapore and on online news and media platforms such as BitPinas, CoinDesk, Vogue Singapore, and The Straits Times Singapore.
One of his pieces, Colorful Lion by Sevi, was displayed on Times Square billboards during the annual NFT.NYC event.
His physical and digitized work has been purchased by North American, European, and Asia collectors.
Mark Constantine Inducil
Mark Constantine Inducil is a Filipino-Australian digital artist based in Melbourne, Australia.
He has worked in the creative industry for over 20 years and has experience in graphic design, cinematography, and motion design.
Mark creates psychological-inspired, atmospheric, and heavily textured digital art.
He often uses his experiences and trauma to craft surrealistic and dreamlike portraits and landscapes.
Mark’s work is also inspired by his love for film, particularly cinematography, and his curiosity about psychology and philosophy helps him find personal stories to express.
Mark’s work has been exhibited in Melbourne, Beijing, the UK, Miami, Bangkok, Moscow, and Paris.
Jopet Arias
Jopet Arias is known as one of the forerunners of the crypto art movement in the Philippines, being part of Crypto Art Week Asia’s first batch of featured artists.
He is also the co-founder of CryptoArt Philippines, a community helper at Sushinobi Axie Academy, and a member of The Guild NFO.
Jarrett Cross
Jarrett Cross is a multidisciplinary artist based in Manila, Philippines.
His work explores themes of nostalgia, psychedelia, humor, and pop culture that are inspired by the classical, renaissance, and baroque eras, as well as images from encyclopedias from his childhood that set off ideas for exploration and experimentation.
His immense interest in and practice of improvisation and automatism is his way of taking care of his mental well-being.
Shill Water
Shill Water is a self-taught traditional and digital artist from a small town called Agno in Pangasinan, Philippines.
Apart from his goal of attaining global recognition for his work, he uses NFTs to encourage ownership and participation in advancing technology.
Shill Water constantly tries to push his creative boundaries by trying new styles and mediums for his art.
IJ Cacnio
IJ Cacnio, also known as “The Motioneer,” is a motion graphics artist that creates art through animation and infinitely complex patterns called fractals.
Vito Chipz
Vito is a designer and artist often inspired by classical design and fashion.
Mej Valencia
Mej Valencia is a Filipino musician and visual artist. He has worked with brands such as PUMA, Felipe Pantone, Footlocker, Bershka, and more.
Gio Birondo
Gio Karlo’s works are mostly surrealistic, dark, fantastical, and ethereal.
He loves vividly translating what he feels into something visual.
Smart also recently showcased these homegrown Pinoy NFT artists at its booth at Toycon 2022 last July 8-10, 2022, where it also offered its latest Smart Signature postpaid plans, gave attendees the chance to take home exclusive limited-edition toys from Quiccs, and more.
