Insights

About the artist:  Sinclair

Sinclair is a self-taught abstract artist known for his continual experimentation with various forms of visual expression, including painting, animation, sculpting, and fashion. He strives to create art that is not only unique and beautiful but also imbued with deeper meaning, aiming to resonate with the humanity in each of us. By blending physical and digital mediums, Sinclair crafts innovative works that reflect the complexity of modern life.

His artistic journey began in 2016 with a series of one-line drawings of people, symbolizing the interconnectedness shared by all. While his style has evolved over the years, the essence of his creative process remains unchanged. Sinclair's art simplifies complex emotions, significant life events, and meaningful places, forging connections that inspire shared understanding and unity among viewers.

About the work: 

LOVE LETTER TO PARADISE is Sinclair's latest series, capturing the fleeting beauty of life on Florida’s coastline through ten unique animated paintings. Each 1/1 NFT began as a physical canvas, transformed with animation to reflect the dynamic relationship between memory and movement. Sinclair’s immersion in Florida’s natural landscape over the past two years rekindled his connection to physical painting, an art form he associates with tranquility and introspection.

The title, LOVE LETTER TO PARADISE, reflects Sinclair’s farewell to Florida—a place that offered him a grounding presence and a sense of artistic renewal. As life moves forward, he integrates motion into these works, embodying the rhythm of changing tides and the inevitability of transition. Now returning to his hometown of Chicago, Sinclair leaves behind a collection as both a tribute to Florida’s inspiring landscapes and an exploration of art in motion—a reminder that even as life shifts, the beauty of each moment endures.

“Sitting on the beach felt like I was back at my roots, and painting feels the same way. Painting brings a sense of calm and stillness to life, but life moves fast… it’s always in motion, and now it’s time for me to move back to my home town Chicago.” - Sinclair

The interview:

Paloma: Can you speak about your journey as a self-taught artist? What initially sparked your interest being an art?

Sinclair:  My journey began in high school when I started doodling my friends in class and posting my drawings on twitter. I started gaining a following from my art, and I thought to myself, if I was going to be a “real” artist I had to learn how to paint… something I had never done before. So, I went and bought some paint and canvas and got everything set up to paint. I still remember the first brushstroke I ever made. It was like a spark went off in my brain. At that moment I realized what I was meant to do for the rest of my life. I was meant to be an artist. It was a very surreal feeling. 

After high school, I was going to community college for business, but my mind was always thinking about art. All I wanted to do was create. So I decided to drop out of school, and pursue my art. In the next year, I painted over 50 paintings, and even landed a gallery show in Chicago! But just when I thought everything was going as planned, the covid pandemic hit. My show was postponed and I was out of work as a waiter since all the restaurants were closed. I was wondering what to do, and then at the perfect time, NFTs started popping up all over my twitter and SuperRare reached out to me to join the platform. The rest is history.

Paloma: How would you describe the evolution of your artistic style from when you started in 2016 to now? Would you say that there are any specific influences or pivotal moments that shaped your growth?

Sinclair: My style has definitely evolved over the years. I’ve experimented with many different mediums, techniques, and subject matter throughout my artistic journey, and it has all led me to a very unique style that I feel truly represents me. At the beginning of my artistic career, my style was defined by thick black lines and pop colors. My style then progressed into thinner lines and more geometric shapes. After that, I wanted to experiment with a more messy and expressive approach. Now it feels like all of those aspects, the thick black lines, the geometric shapes, and the expressive brush strokes have now combined into one style that I feel is truly my own. It's taken over 8 years to get to this point in my style.

“Summer Nostalgia”

There’s been a couple pivotal moments along the way that I think have shaped my growth and style, one being when I completed my first large collection of 50 paintings. I think completing that collection showed me that I could accomplish what I set my mind to if I worked hard enough at it. Another moment that comes to mind is when I learned how to animate. This really changed the game for me because it opened up a completely new frontier of digital aspects that I could now incorporate into my work.

Paloma: What role does nature play in your creative process, both as a source of inspiration and as an element within your art?

Sinclair: Nature has always been a place of peace for me. I’ve always felt very connected to nature and going on nature walks has always been a way for me to separate myself from the world. In this collection specifically, nature plays a large role. Being in Florida, I’m always surrounded by nature, whether it be the ocean, the lush forests, or flower gardens, Florida has it all. This constant nature makes me feel at peace, but also it makes me think about life from an “outside” perspective, versus when I was living in Chicago, I felt very “inside” life. I was always surrounded by the constant hustle and bustle. Life moves really fast wherever you live, but here in Florida, I have more time to process things and there's less of a rush. Nature really accentuates that. So I wanted all of those feelings to be part of these paintings: a feeling of peace and calm, even as life is moving fast. 

“Eve”    

Paloma: Can you tell us more about the personal significance of “LOVE LETTER TO PARADISE”? What emotions and memories were you hoping to capture in this collection?

Sinclair: I named it “LOVE LETTER TO PARADISE” because all of these paintings really capture what I went through here in FLorida for the past two years, and now that I’m leaving its sort of my final goodbye to beach life. My wife and I decided to move from Chicago to the Florida coast to live because whenever we would vacation here we would love it. But over the past two years, both me and my wife have had very close family members pass away and both our families live in Chicago. We decided that instead of staying down here we should move back to be with our family because you never really know the last time that you’re going to see them. 

“The Show Goes On”

So I moved down to Florida, thinking that I would possibly never move back to Chicago, but this move became more of a prolonged adventure in paradise on the beach, that I’m still very grateful for. This collection is an ode to my time here, all of the fun I had, the memories I made, and all of the emotions I felt. If I had to sum it up, this collection is about those moments that you want to last forever.

Paloma: You emphasize creating art that connects with humanity. How do you choose themes or subjects that resonate universally yet still maintain a personal touch?

Sinclair: I’ve found that the best way to make art that connects with others is by connecting with myself. If I want to make art that others resonate with, I have to be willing to be honest with my own emotions and my own life, and in a sense, be vulnerable on the canvas. We all go through the same things. We all feel the same things. We are all more alike than we think.  So when I’m choosing what to paint or how to paint it, I really just paint what I feel, and I try to speak the truth through my art because I feel that people connect with the truth.

“Morning Reflection

Paloma: Your journey started with one-line drawings that expressed connection. How has that concept evolved in your recent work, and do elements of it still appear in “LOVE LETTER TO PARADISE”?

Sinclair: Yes actually, the one-line style definitely still appears in this collection and was actually a main connecting factor throughout most of the paintings. Being in Florida and surrounded by nature really made me feel back to my roots. When I first started making art, I would draw using only one line. My “one line style” is my artistic root. I have always loved what my one line style represents. It represents our human connection; the idea that we are all connected and we are all one. In this collection I try to capture the feelings and moments that we are all connected by, and I feel my one line style really accentuates that deeper meaning.

“Sunset Horizon”

Paloma: Can you share more about the specific animation techniques you used for this collection? How did you choose the right technique to complement each piece?

Sinclair: This is the first time I’ve ever used these specific animation techniques. I was venturing into unknown territory with this collection. The animations all used the physical paintings that I made as the base of the animation. Before this collection, if I were to animate a painting, I would remake the entire physical painting digitally on my iPad. That process would take out the texture of the painting, and the texture is sometimes what makes a painting great. With this collection being inspired by my natural roots, I felt like it was important to retain the texture of the paintings. I also felt that it was my job as an artist to continue to push boundaries, so I felt it was necessary to still add animation. 

The goal of both of the animation techniques I used was to give the paintings a unique energy. The first animation technique would make the black lines that make up the faces would. I also took different brush strokes in the paintings and made them move. A great example of this technique is “EYE AM”. The other technique I used was basically a form of animated blending where I would make a painting’s skies or surroundings look like they were flowing. I felt this style really helped give a painting a sense of time flying by. All in all, I’m very happy that I chose to animate these paintings the way I did because it feels like I pushed myself to do something that I’ve never done before and the outcome was something that I’ve never seen before.

“EYE AM”

See more of Sinclair's work available on SuperRare here