Demon Ego is multimedia artist, demonic expressionist, graphic designer and research assistant. For Demon, it all started 16 years ago with drawing illustrations. Surreal beings have always been his tool in search for his own reality and in resolving human fears, illnesses, troubles and delusions. He was inspired by horror movies, Japanese and Greek mythology, comics, video games, knowledge in psychology & philosophy, anime, and manga.

The creation process of Demons are Hiding in the BASEment took approximately 2 weeks. As with all of his collages, he worked with physical and digital materials. Using a sketchbook, colored pencils, AI videos & images, videos shot with a phone, animations created with coding, and prints of his photographs.

Check out his drop with OpenSea here.

OpenSea: Could you introduce us to your art style and the main themes you explore in your artwork?

Demon Ego: I describe my art style as Demonic Expressionist and Demonic Experimental. The reason for this is that the devil figure, which is the fundamental evil and the source of all evil, is increasingly taking over my art. In my art, I constantly set out to discover new figures and stories, the main purpose of which is to try to tell surreal stories in different ways.

OpenSea: Can you walk us through your creative process when developing an NFT collection or piece?

Demon Ego: I always try to start without a plan, without thinking about the end. Thus, the process of producing the work turns into an adventure for me, the end of which is unknown. Sometimes I create a piece for my physical or digital collages, but I then use that piece in a work I will create months later. I give it time to find the right place for the piece. In other words, I am waiting for the pieces to find their place in the final work that will emerge at the end. And sometimes a finished work can find its way based on just one word or the impact of a piece I created has on me.

OpenSea: Can you discuss any unique challenges or opportunities you encounter when creating art, specifically for the digital realm of NFTs?

Demon Ego: I can't say that I have difficulty because if art already exists for you without the NFT & digital realm, you do not experience this feeling. I believe that we need to get rid of the idea of ​​living and creating works for the NFT or digital realm, and see these areas as new channels of art. Otherwise, there may be great pressure. Being aware of everything and using every tool related to the things in question, pressure may arise. I may only have difficulties finding new ideas in my art, but this has nothing to do with NFTs, if I cannot create something new and take my art further than yesterday, nothing matters.

OpenSea: What motivated you to create on Base? How do you think Base's features will benefit your artistic expression?

Demon Ego: Base creates great opportunities and conveniences for artists, and I believe it will continue to do so. The opening of new roads, new collaborations and areas where we can easily access everything and deliver our works easily and quickly shows that a big dream is coming true for us artists.‍

OpenSea: How has blockchain technology influenced or changed the way you approach art creation?

Demon Ego: Now I encounter works and ideas that inspire me much more. I meet, talk to, and share my ideas with artists and people whose existence I would never have known if it wasn't for the blockchain. This enables an important step to be taken in human evolution, both mentally and artistically, and in the history of art. We have so much more to learn now; artists can use many more materials and methods to try to understand and solve. While I was working with only a few digital materials before the blockchain, now I use more than 10 materials and methods.

OpenSea: How do you plan to engage with your audience through your NFTs on OpenSea? Are there any interactive elements or community-driven aspects to your work?

Demon Ego: My goal is to show through all my artworks that we can attract surreal beings, beings that seem scary and malevolent, into the real world and become stronger than them. While doing this, I use grotesque elements in my works and the stories of my works. That is, humor and parts of nature that have been described as ugly, bad, and disgusting. In the work I created for the project with OpenSea, I invited my demons from the basement where they live to the upper floors of the house. So I want them to communicate with the inhabitants of the house, to show them their reality. In this way, people will understand that they should not be afraid of them and that they are a part of nature.

OpenSea: What future developments in the NFT space excite you the most, and how do you plan to incorporate these into your future projects?

Demon Ego: I'm so excited about the future of NFTs. Every day, every moment, something new happens and while trying to learn that thing, something new emerges. But fundamentally, I'm very excited about the idea that NFTs will liberate art from rules, boundaries, conventional ideas, and canvases crammed into a room, but it hasn't even begun to liberate it yet.

OpenSea: What advice would you give to artists who are new to the NFT space and are considering launching their first digital collection?

Demon Ego: First of all, as I answer every similar question, I would like to start this one as follows: listen to your heart, ignore your mind. Keep this in mind when creating and showing your work as NFTs or any other way. Create your own method, your path; others' methods and paths are not suitable for you. If art is not your passion in life, neither creating art in real life nor your NFT adventure will last long. Don't be in a hurry, learn to be patient and take time to find suitable places and people for your art.

OpenSea: Where do you see the future of digital art and NFTs heading in the next five years? How do you hope to contribute to this future?

Demon Ego: I think it is unpredictable, it will be somewhere beyond what has already been imagined. Believe me, I think it is very difficult to predict this. Let's let what we see continue to surprise us. I want to contribute to this as an artist who creates more works and ensures that his art is included in a wider range of areas. As long as art continues and we continue to produce, NFTs will continue to develop.