19 Mar 2024/35 min/Shavonne Wong
MLow X Shavonne Wong Interview
3D artist and NFT Asia co-founder Shavonne Wong on virtual models that tell human stories, supporting Asian artists, and the honest mechanics of brands, auction houses, and curation.
Recorded over Google Meet in October 2023, this conversation covers Shavonne Wong's whole arc: more than a decade as a commercial fashion photographer shooting for brands like Nike and Sephora, then a move into crypto art where the brand relationship inverted. As a commercial creative she was handed a mood board and asked to execute it; as an artist, Vogue and Bang and Olufsen come to her wanting her voice. Her work uses virtual models, sculpted and lit in 3D and rendered to video, to tell human stories she hopes viewers see themselves in.
The middle of the episode is about infrastructure for other artists. As a co-founder of NFT Asia she describes the barriers that keep Asian talent invisible (language, education, travel), the volunteer group's open calls that pull 800 to 900 submissions in about 24 hours, curation through JOYN, and the Discord pitch practice sessions where members get blunt feedback before pitching publicly. She delivers the episode's sharpest argument: the space complains it needs more women and more Asian artists while failing to support the ones already there, which is exactly what makes them leave. She is equally candid about Sotheby's, which reached out to NFT Asia for a Hong Kong digital art auction that included her: artists join for validation, collectors join because KYC thins the competition, and the whole thing is a circle.
The last stretch turns to her own work: Love is Love, the 2021 generative collection where collectors chose gender and sexuality variables that shaped the couple they received, and The Invisible March of Time, a dynamic piece that ages with her, ticking up one year every birthday until 100, so the work literally lives on without her. She distills her practice into three words, the human experience, and contrasts her project-to-project freedom with long-arc storytellers like Sam Spratt and business-minded artists like Fvckrender.
What this episode teaches
- The support gap is not a supply gap
Shavonne argues the space's diversity complaint is misdiagnosed: the women and Asian artists people wish existed are already here, unsupported. Push them forward or they leave, and then the shortage becomes real.
- Brands want your voice, clients want execution
The difference between commercial work and artist collaborations is who supplies the vision. As a photographer she was given mood boards; as an artist, brands approach her for her essence, which is more freedom and more fun.
- Curation is choice reduction, not gatekeeping
Her mall analogy: without stores, shopping is one giant heap of shoes and bags and nobody buys anything. Curation earns its place by giving people a trusted door to walk through, since nobody can research every artist on Twitter.
- Your own contract, their storefront
She moved her work onto her own contract but still lists on SuperRare and Foundation, because selling from her own site is like having a store outside the mall. Until you are famous enough, sell where the buyers already gather.
- Know the auction house trade
Auction houses mean fewer bidders because collectors must KYC. Artists participate for validation and social proof, collectors for reduced competition. Go in understanding the circle, and be happy it sold.
- Rehearse the pitch, then push
NFT Asia ran pitch practice sessions where artists pitched to peers and got blunt notes (you apologize too many times, you rambled here) before being kicked out the door to do it publicly. A cheap, replicable fix for the confidence gap.
- Let collectors set the variables
Love is Love let buyers choose gender and sexuality inputs that shaped the pairing they received, turning a generative mint into a participatory statement. The politics of the project became a mechanic, not a caption.
- Decide which artist you want to be
Her hard truth on commercialization: if you need art income and your style is not commercial, something has to give. Do what makes you happy with a day job, face the hard questions, or get so big that brands adapt to you, which almost never happens.
The conversation, topic by topic
Virtual models, human stories
Shavonne opens with the surprise at the heart of her work: she uses virtual models to tell human stories about emotion and lived experience, hoping viewers see themselves in the pieces.
From fashion photography to art brand deals
About a decade of commercial photography with clients like Nike and Sephora preceded the NFT scene. As an artist she has collaborated with Vogue and Bang and Olufsen, and the difference is freedom: brands now want her voice instead of handing her a mood board.
Being an artist in Asia
MLow asks what it is like living far from collectors and events. She admits to strong FOMO, has traveled to NFT NYC and other events, and notes her odd sleep schedule at least keeps her online when everyone else is. The world is very small until you need to travel, then suddenly it is very big.
NFT Asia's playbook
Co-founded by Shavonne, NFT Asia empowers, educates, and onboards Asia-based artists against language, education, and travel barriers. Open calls on Twitter and Discord close in about 24 hours with 800 to 900 submissions, curated with help from JOYN. It is volunteer-run, with real limits, and includes pitch practice sessions with blunt feedback.
The diversity argument
Her reframe: everyone says the space needs more women, more Asians. The answer is to support the ones already there so they do not leave, otherwise there really will be none left.
Love is Love
Her 2021 generative collection, inspired by the PFP wave (BAYC and the rest) but refusing the forward-facing profile picture. Posing her virtual models in 3D, like playing with Barbie dolls, she made them kiss, then realized swapping models could be a generative layer. Collectors chose gender and sexuality variables that influenced the couple they received, because love is love.
Sotheby's in Hong Kong
In late November of the previous year Sotheby's approached NFT Asia for Asian artists to include in a digital art fair auction in Hong Kong; her name was picked from the list the community supplied. She describes the auction house circle frankly: KYC means fewer collectors, artists come for validation, collectors for less competition. The sale went okay and she is happy it sold.
Curation and the shopping mall
Both host and guest defend curation. Shavonne argues that without it buyers face one undifferentiated mountain of stuff and freeze; MLow describes his curatorial practice as putting pieces and artists in conversation and connecting art to collectors.
Technique and venues
Her 1/1s are fully 3D: model sculpted, placed in a 3D set with 3D lighting and hair, rendered to video. By Proxy (2022) was a collaboration with a photographer about memory, where the photographer supplied reality and Shavonne the unreal half. She mints on SuperRare and Foundation, now via her own contract.
AI as reconnaissance
She plays with Midjourney mainly for ideation and to keep up with where the technology is, plus practical uses like enlarging and extending files. Nothing in her output reads as AI yet, but she expects it will eventually enter her workflow.
Favorite artists
She names peers from Bloom, her 3D-leaning collective, including NoCreative, plus NFT Asia friends and several illustrators she collects (names the machine transcript garbles), deliberately choosing lesser-known artists over obvious big names. She also loves the Reuben Wu and Jenni Pasanen collaboration.
The Invisible March of Time
From her Paris solo exhibition with more than 40 screens, and a March exhibition of dynamic works: a woman ages imperceptibly over 30 minutes in the gallery version, so you only notice time passed when you come back. The blockchain version is tied to Shavonne's own age, 32 turning 33 on her November birthday, incrementing yearly until 100 and then resetting: the piece lives on without her.
Short-term artist, long-term artists
Asked for her essence in five words she needs only three: the human experience. She contrasts herself with Sam Spratt's long-arc storytelling and Fvckrender's business sense, preferring to finish a project, be proud of it, and move to the next without being held by the last.
What's next
She teases upcoming collections she is not allowed to discuss yet, mentions a Toronto trip and skipping Art Basel Miami, and invites MLow to Singapore.
In their words
“I use my virtual models to tell human stories. My hope is people see it and see themselves.”
Shavonne Wong“The world is very small until you need to travel, then suddenly it's very big.”
Shavonne Wong“We often talk about what the space needs, if only there were more women, more Asians. Often the answer is: support the ones that are there.”
Shavonne Wong“If there is no such thing as curation, everybody is just overwhelmed with too many choices and nobody will buy anything.”
Shavonne Wong“My store is outside of the mall, so it's a little bit hard to find.”
Shavonne Wong“She ages every year on my birthday, all the way to a hundred. So my piece will literally live on without me.”
Shavonne WongCite this conversation
Shavonne Wong in conversation with MLow, "MLow X Shavonne Wong Interview," The MLow Show, 19 Mar 2024. https://show.mlow.xyz/e/2024-03-19-mlow-x-shavonne-wong-interview.html. Quoted from a machine transcript.
Quotations come from machine transcripts. Check wording against the audio before republishing.