TzAR: Pixel Art Profiles #12 – Greg Nikshumika, Element Lee, Zennyan
Kyle Flemmer profiles three rule-breaking artists included in the forthcoming Tezos Art Review (TzAR): Pixel Art Anthology.
In this final installment of Pixel Art Profiles, I want to end on a high note by celebrating three artist who defy the typical conventions of the medium. Unlike the boundaries between pixels themselves, the boundaries between creative mediums are eminently blurry. Sometimes great artists actively work to erode boundaries. Others may not particularly care to distinguish between mediums in their own creative practice. Multimedia or genre-defying work is certainly not new to pixel or digital art, but it is especially important to identify in a medium that polices its boundaries as ardently as does pixel art.
I would like to stress throughout TzAR: Pixel Art Review that pixel art can be and is so much more than its traditional definition. Pixel art can be physical. It can be three-dimensional. It can be glitchy and messy, irregular, and spliced together with other mediums. It can be made with surprising or unconventional software. It can be handmade or AI generated, illustrated in pixels natively or filtered to look pixelated. It can be huge in scale and resolution. It needn’t even be rectilinear. I believe, and I hope this anthology proves, that wherever the pixel is used intentionally as an compositional element, there you will find pixel art. Forget the r/PixelArt subreddit rules about what does and does not qualify and join me in the sun and fun of pixel art in its widest possible conception.
“Pixel Art Profiles #12 concludes this series by showcasing three artists who thoroughly demolish the artificial guardrails around the pixel art medium. This work is eminently important and drives the medium forward into new and unfamiliar territory. I hope you enjoy these rulebreakers and, if so, invite you to see more in TzAR: Pixel Art Anthology this coming August.”
Greg Nikshumika
Medium Effort Unicorn by Greg Nikshumika, minted October 28, 2024
Artist statement: “Greg Nikshumika creates digital works that transform pixels and mundane productivity tools into vessels for emotional expression. Working primarily with pixelated images and spreadsheet software, Greg subverts the utilitarian nature of these corporate mediums to explore themes of beauty, metanoia, loneliness, consciousness, and the quiet tragicomedy of his own life.”
Element Lee
Matter - Particle by Element Lee, minted March 12, 2024
Artist statement: “Element Lee is a Vienna-based Chinese digital artist exploring the intersection of humans, technology, and nature through experimental drawings, pixel art and art-based research.”
Zennyan
Warms by Zennyan, minted September 10, 2023
Artist statement: “Zennyan is a pixel artist working across the fields of art, design, and entertainment. After practicing traditional Japanese crafts and contemporary art, they began creating pixel art. Their work explores the characteristics of visual representation in video games, examining how pixel-based imagery shapes perception and meaning within the medium.”
TzAR: Pixel Art Anthology will be published by The Blasted Tree Publishing Co. in August 2025. Stay tuned on X for announcements about the upcoming release of this one-of-a-kind book!