Digital artist Ayla El-Moussa uses the body as both subject and canvas, creating work that bridges photography, painting, and digital abstraction. Her images move between the intimate and the imagined, revealing how identity can shift through light, color, and texture.

With her latest series, Bodies of Color, El-Moussa continues that evolution, transforming form into feeling and expanding her dialogue between the physical and the digital. In this conversation Ayla reflects on the shift from self to “her,” finding stillness through color, and building her first collection on Shape.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

OpenSea: Let’s start from the beginning. You’ve described your early practice as rooted in self-portraiture and in many ways your own muse. How has your relationship to the image of “self” evolved since those early works?

Ayla El-Moussa: Yes, and I am glad you started there. In the early days I wanted to make clear that I had my hands on the entire process. No one was taking pictures of me. It was me. When I am alone in the studio a different self appears. It is almost like an entity that comes out only when I create. In the real world, if someone tries to take my photo, I am utterly mortified and shy. Early on I wanted to flip the idea of the muse. Throughout history women were framed as muses for men. I wanted women to champion themselves and create their own force.

OpenSea: Was there certain work that marked a turning point for you?

Ayla: Yes. Parts of Her was the shift. That piece later hung and sold at Christie’s. Around that time Redbeard tweeted a question to artists: How do you know when a work is finished? I realized I am done when I no longer see myself in it. That was the move from self as subject to an entity beyond me. Less about Ayla. More about her.

OpenSea: You also created Nude Pixels and later Nude Abstracts. How did those bodies of work change your approach?

Ayla: Nude Pixels played with perception. At a glance it is a nude figure. The closer you look the less you see. It dissolves into pixels. It was tongue in cheek and fun. Nude Abstracts in 2023 was pivotal. I moved from wide, full body images to abstractions as the lead image. You could still click in and see the portrait that generated the abstraction, but the focus shifted to abstract figuration. That is when I felt ready to move away from the body as a whole and toward parts and pieces.

I also evolved my process. I had collaged photos, drone footage, with gentle photoshop edits. But then I added Procreate. I grew up painting and drawing. Procreate let me bring that tactile, painterly texture into the work instead of only overlaying elements. It was a real game changer.

OpenSea: Why move into abstraction of the nude in the first place. Was it to avoid being identified or categorized?

Ayla: Yes. I was often put in the boxes of photographer and nude photographer. For me the body and nature are canvases and the photograph is only the starting point. People will project and sexualize. That is human, and I do not judge it. But there is much more beneath the surface. I am having a larger conversation than that label suggests. Abstraction lets me keep the body present but not obvious. It created a voyeuristic interaction. You think you know what you see, you click to check, and the relationship between viewer and muse gets complicated. That was exciting.

OpenSea: How did you arrive in web3. Was it about digital ownership for you?

Ayla: I came to it differently. I had been making moving digital work since 2015 and knew it needed a native home. People would ask how they could collect something on Instagram or why they should hang a screen on the wall. Galleries and agents did not understand digital work at the time.

I first noticed blockchain around a headline about a JPEG rose sale in 2018 and thought there was something there. Later I heard the letters NFT. I typed them into Clubhouse in late 2020 and found the community I had been looking for. Ownership, provenance, a shared language. Those three letters changed my life. I am not ashamed of them. They are powerful.

I still tell people I am a digital artist. That is where my community recognized the value of my work. When someone replies with a headline about a celebrity and a pricey collectible, I remind them it is much more than that. Artists often pioneer what becomes normal later. We really are early. The public only really encountered this in 2021. Shifting a society takes decades. We do not need to rush. We should hold to the principles that got us here. Ownership, provenance, decentralization, community.

OpenSea: You tend to release a major body of work every two years. Nude Pixels, then Nude Abstracts, and now Bodies of Color. How do these chapters connect?

Ayla: They are connected as an evolving commentary on the body as canvas. Bodies of Color started with a promise I made to Pravijn, a dear friend and early collector. I planned a project on Shape, but it would not click. I tried other things, even a micro collection called Guardians. Nothing felt right for months. My projects usually arrive with a clear arc and a name. I kept circling titles about auras, but they did not fit. When Parts of Her resurfaced in my mind the path opened. The name came quickly and the work began to flow.

OpenSea: What does the process for Bodies of Color look like, start to finish?

Ayla: It begins with a studio photo session. Tripod, simple setup, and many poses. I narrowed to about sixty images. In Photoshop I define the canvas with guidelines, edit the image within it, and overlay a photographed canvas texture to give the figure a tactile surface. In Procreate I build color fields. Then I slice a single edited image into parts. Each work is a one of one pose that has been fragmented. I wanted the body to disappear at first glance yet remain discoverable. Some are more obvious. Others are elusive.

OpenSea: You mention historical art influences. Brancusi, Henry Moore, Georgia O’Keeffe, and James Turrell. How do you translate those into digital form?

Ayla: I research constantly. Books matter to me because they allow chance discovery. Brancusi and Moore shaped the body in space and fragmented it beautifully. That informed how I abstract and imply volume so the images feel like you could walk around them. Turrell taught me about immersion in color. I do not often use bright pinks or reds, but here I wanted to explore aura like fields. O’Keeffe’s sumptuous color guided me toward images that invite a long exhale. The canvas texture sometimes reads as physical linen and sometimes like a digital surface. I enjoyed playing with that tension.

OpenSea: What do you hope viewers feel when they encounter Bodies of Color?

Ayla: I hope for a moment of meditation. We live in a world where everything is obvious and immediate. I want people to lose themselves for a moment. To notice why a certain color pulls them in. Why blue calms and red stirs. To sit with form, color, and space and let the work be a quiet experience.

OpenSea: This is your first collaboration with Shape. Why Shape, and why build on a layer two?

Ayla: It is my first time working beyond mainnet Ethereum. I chose Shape because I believe in the team. Pravijn began as a collector and became a friend. Han as well. They have been here through the ups and downs and they care about decentralization and self-sovereignty. Shape is moving deliberately toward decentralization and is designed as a public good. My understanding is that a large share of gas revenue flows back to creators and builders, which keeps value in the community. They are building for the space, not chasing quick profit. That aligned with my values and with the arc of my work from Nude Pixels to Nude Abstracts to Bodies of Color.

OpenSea: You’ve said that Bodies of Color was influenced by your earlier work Parts of Her, which sold through Christie’s. How does that lineage carry into Bodies of Color?

Ayla: Parts of Her focused on hiding the body through abstraction. Bodies of Color adds a sculptural dimension. I asked how the figure could exist in space. Brancusi became a key that unlocked the approach. I like to borrow a small element from older or contemporary works, reinterpret it, and make it my own. This series is a nod to sculpture and a bridge to what comes next.

OpenSea: What is next for you?

Ayla: Physical sculpture in actual marble. I work with geometry and symbols, like the inverted triangle. It is the alchemical sign for water and also a symbol associated with the womb and the feminine. It has been in my practice for years. I want to guide viewers from the intimate body to a distilled symbol and then into physical form. Bodies of Color feels like a bookend for this chapter. I have said what I needed to say about body and form for now. Next comes large physical pieces.

There will also be token gated print for collectors of Bodies of Color who are looking to have a physical counterpart. I have found the absolute perfect print and material for this body of work. I am utterly excited. And they will be offered at $400 USD for the print. I always want to offer a physical experience. We are physical creatures. Even if someone lives primarily with digital work, it is special to hold or hang a piece. 

OpenSea: Any final thoughts on labels and identity in the space?

Ayla: Georgia O’Keeffe said she did not want to be known as a great female artist. She wanted to be known as a great artist. I feel the same. Crypto at its best removes labels. It lets you open your own doors. Men and women can be different and that is fine, but forcing definitions can erase the core ethos. In the end the work should stand.

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