13 frames, 1500 x 1840 pixels, created with Procreate on iPad.

This is the first time I have submitted digital artwork to an art contest. It is fitting that it is a .GIF contest, as it was the .GIF medium that made me realize the potential of digital art to push the canon of art forward in ways that traditional art forms could not.

I have a background in traditional art, having spent my whole life working with paints and other physical mediums. I even received a BFA in art and design. From a very young age art has been my passion.

When I initially got involved with NFTs on Opensea the majority of what I saw was uninspiring. I felt I had a good chance of being recognized for my work. Most of my early NFTs were photographs of physical artwork. It wasn't until I saw the .GIFs of Xer0X, rata_yonqui, and others on objkt.com that I realized something new and important was happening. It seemed to me that a movement that the mainstream was unaware of had been developing on the internet, and it was very different from the traditional art world that I was familiar with.

An underground digital art scene has emerged with all forms of communication, art, tools, cultural values, sensibilities and currencies all completely digitally focused. GIFs are one of the mediums that set this movement and its art apart from traditional art in significant ways.

Although Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) files have been around since the 1980s, they are not widely recognized as an artistic medium. Other art forms that include moving images fall into broader categories such as "animation" or "cinema." GIFs are unique in that they loop indefinitely, often creating the illusion of motion but lacking an endpoint. GIFs do not simply take the viewer from point A to point B, but rather have a static effect due to their looping nature.

Motion is a central focus of my work, and .GIFs allow me to fully convey this aspect of my vision. Viewers no longer have to imagine the motion suggested in a still painting but can see the image come to life in my .GIFs. With STRESSED, I wanted to continue the maximalist style of my .GIF genesis piece, HIT. As with HIT, STRESSED continues my interest in the subject of extreme or altered states of consciousness.

The process of creating STRESSED was stressful, as I had to finish it within a week during a busy time. Unlike HIT and other .GIFs I have made, STRESSED is the first one that was entirely created using digital tools and does not have a physical origin.