omentejovem (Brazilian, b. 2001) is the pseudonym of Thales Machado, a self-taught digital artist from Rio de Janeiro whose paintings move between figurative and abstract forms as a visual diary of his feelings and life events. The name, Portuguese for “the young mind”, replaced an earlier pseudonym, Talisma, and recurring motifs in his work include the moon and a symbol he calls “the dot”, representing individual singularity.,
Machado began designing cover art and lyric videos for musician friends as a teenager, working in Photoshop without formal art training. He discovered NFTs in late 2020 through the artist Etienne Crauss, who gave him Ethereum to mint his first piece. It sold for 0.4 ETH the next morning, more than he could earn in a month of commissioned design work. He was accepted as an artist on SuperRare at 23, a milestone he described as the moment his life changed. He cites Joan Miró, Wassily Kandinsky, and Pablo Picasso as influences on his evolving use of color.
In Creative Workaholic, made after his first NFT sale, a moon in a contemplative state and a wheel-like form reflect his working odd hours on his family's shared computer to build a career from art.Titles such as The Day I Felt God mark specific moments of personal insight, functioning as diary entries within the work.,His work has since been sold through Sotheby's and Christie's auctions.
