Yosnier and Soulosaint Merge Their Dream Worlds in Special Drop

Prolific digital artists, Yosnier and Soulosaint present their long-awaited collaboration, 'yosoulo,' through Nifty Gateway's new Publishers program. Both known for their dream-like art styles, this collaboration brings together the best of the two creators and long-time friends.

The drop includes one individual piece from each artist, alongside a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Each piece perfectly meshes the style and feeling of both artists, depicting a beautiful yet melancholy sense of longing.

*Each individual piece will be a 90 minute ranked auction, starting at $200. The collaboration will be a limited drawing of 10 editions, priced at $500 each.

The drop was curated by Max Kulchinsky, a NYC-based artist and the founder of For The TL, a cryptoart collective. As an early collector on NiftyGateway, Max is excited to present his curatorial vision on the platform with an emphasis on supporting emerging artists.

ONE37pm got to interview Yosnier, Soulo, and Kulchinsky for deep insight into the pieces, creative process, and how much this drop means to them.

You can check out 'yosoulo' here.

ONE37pm: Can you describe each of your own solo pieces?

Yosnier: My solo piece, "i'll wait an eternity for you to find me again" is one half of a broken heart that will soon be mended. I wanted to depict what it felt to sit there and wait for someone you hold so very close to rescue you from an unending loneliness. Our flame, the burning love we shared, still connects us and brings us closer every day, even if we aren't close, physically. 

Soulo: For my piece ‘I can [still] feel your soul guiding me’ the description is ‘Even when I feel so soulo, so cold and alone. The thought of you is what keeps me warm.’ This piece is about how long I’ve been waiting to work with Yosnier. He is one of my best friends and we’ve both grown together from the start. We’ve always had the idea but we had growing to do with our art. My conversations I do have with Yos bring me more life and provide me with a safe space. He's someone I truly trust and love. 

ONE37pm: What was it like to combine your styles but make sure both of you were represented? Was the process easy or was it challenging?

Yosnier: Honestly our collab was so long overdue. It's funny because we were talking about it since we met back in 2020 and to see it finally come into fruition brings me to tears, especially since we've always felt that our styles, our work coexisted. The process was honestly easy conceptually and stylistically. I think what made things a little hectic and challenging was the time we had to create these 3 pieces, as we both were tied to other things we were working on.

ONE37pm: What have been your biggest inspirations to create lately?

Soulo: Lately my inspirations have been from life. I was in a darker headspace a few months back and my work showed that but now it's full of warmth and light again. Something I'm very proud of doing and I can see myself continuing to grow with more love in each one. I've also been inspired by a lot of retro color palettes. Something about the pastel and warmer tones really tickles my brain. It’s definitely something I'll be continuing to build upon for sure. 

ONE37pm: What are some other Nifty drops you've been a fan of?

Yosnier: I was actually talking to Soulo about this the other day. I don't find myself being inspired by many, but Thomas Stokes and Tjo's drops really hit home for me. There was something so magical being able to see these drops happen before your eyes. There's also been some other drops that I really loved like Max's "For The TL" drop that included artists, Bobbi Cai, Dimithry Victor, Myriad, Sean Williams, Sophie Sturdevant, and Squibs. That drop was genuinely so beautiful; seeing artists with such different styles come together to create something so amazing. It was definitely a moment.

Soulo: Some other drops I've been a fan of are Karisma and Tjo! Both of them are good friends of mine and seeing them flourish on here to cement their names in the space has been so inspiring. It really goes to show that if you stay genuine and push yourself you can accomplish anything.

ONE37pm: You've curated so many drops, how did you know this one was special?

Kulchinsky: I knew this one was very special from the inception of the idea. I was selected to be in the first cohort of NiftyGateway publishers, and immediately began thinking of ways to bring a bit of my flavor to the platform. From the very beginning of my time in the space, I have been focused on art, and I actually began collecting art on NiftyGateway towards the end of 2020.

So with this opportunity, I knew I wanted to bring artists together, and onboard artists new to the platform in an interesting way. So much of what I work on these days is collaborative, whether its the cryptoart collective I founded For The TL, or curating generally, so instinctively I wanted to pair up likeminded artists for these drops.

And when I began to think of my favorite artists, Yosnier and Soulosaint were two that immediately came to mind. Their styles meet in such an absolutely unique place. They both have this incredible sense of composition, bright colors, and deeply emotional and personal themes in their work.

There is a dreamlike, fantasy quality to their art that has always spoken to me. Soulosaint was one of the aritsts in the first show I curated over a year ago, Metaphysical, and I have admired Yos for so long that once we connected and I was able to curate some pieces into TL shows, we really quickly became friends. Also, Yos has done really well with his first few collections on Nifty, and I thought it was about time for Soulo to have his moment and get on the platform, as his 1/1 sales continue to go off. So once I had the idea, we started talking about it, and I am just so honored they came together to make this happen in such a special way. I know the timeline has been waiting for this collaboration for some time now!

ONE37pm: What has been your experience working with Nifty? Is it any different from what you usually do?

Kulchinsky: The experience with Nifty so far has been great, as a curator. They’ve been really supportive in the short time I’ve actually been curating on there. I’ve connected with pretty much the whole team, and they’re all very kind, genuine folks. Many of the people there love art and actually go out of their way to collect and support artists, even outside of their Nifty drops. They understand and respect what I’m doing, so it’s a symbiotic relationship for sure. I’d say curating drops as a whole is somewhat different from what I usually do, or have done for the last couple years since I entered the space. I have barely taken a commission or made artists sell their works in pretty much any of the exhibitions I’ve curated.

ONE37pm: Anything the audience should know about this specific drop and the ones coming up?

Kulchinsky: This drop really is a special moment in our culture. These are two of the heavy hitter artists in digital art, period, who truly never miss coming together to uplift one another, and share a very special collection and collaboration. It’s not every day something like this happens in Web3 or art in general.

Nifty Gateway’s new “Publishers” program allows 50 curators to select a roster of artists and operate their own NFT storefronts.

This new program allows Nifty, a platform that has previous curated its own drops, to expand its capacity and open the door for new artists to be showcased.

"There are often big waits for artists to do drops, and the publisher program gives everyone a way to drop whenever and pretty much whatever they want," Kulchinsky said. "I think this benefits the community in a few ways, but for me particularly, it allows for me to onboard an artist who has never been on Nifty before onto the platform, like Soulosaint, and empower them to then be able to do more drops on there in the future."

This is a great step in allowing both curators and artists to feel seen and have ownership of their work.

"I think the publishers program is one of the greatest things Nifty could've ever done, seriously," Yosnier said. "Giving the chance to beautiful curators to bring on so many amazing artists that, for the most part, would've flown under the radar is such an amazing thing to witness."

Check out Max Kulchinsky on NiftyGateway and Twitter

Check out Soulosaint on NiftyGateway and Twitter

Check out yosnier on NiftyGateway and Twitter

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