"Creating new worlds in virtual space" - World-class VR artist Aimi Sekiguchi discusses potential of VR

How did you discover VR?

Sekiguchi Aimi (hereinafter, Sekiguchi): Before becoming a VR artist, I was a YouTuber, and I experienced VR through an interview for a certain media. I remember being surprised that I could draw in space, and it was like magic. At first, I got into it out of pure curiosity, and I became engrossed in drawing.

Did you study drawing?

Sekiguchi: I am completely self-taught. I loved drawing since kindergarten, and I drew in free style at that time. My kindergarten teacher, mother, and grandmother praised me a lot, saying, "You're amazing, you're good at it," and that's what made me genuinely love drawing.

One time, when I was asked about my dream for the future at kindergarten, I said I wanted to be an artist, and everyone said, "That's amazing, but you can't get a job at drawing."

I think they were saying it without any bad intentions and for the best, but I wondered, "Why, when there are people who make a living from drawing?", and before I knew it, my dream of becoming an artist was no longer an option for me.

I thought that drawing was just a hobby, so I started down a completely different path, but now I've come full circle and gotten a job where I can draw, which makes me very happy.

The feeling of creating a world in a virtual space

Isn't the feeling of drawing in VR different from the feeling of drawing on actual paper?

Sekiguchi: On the contrary, I think that difference is what makes it so much fun. For me, it's not like drawing a 2D picture, but rather the 360-degree 3D space of the virtual space becomes a canvas and it feels like I'm creating a world.

Creating a world and taking someone to a new world is something that can only be done in VR, and it has a wide range of expression. I hope to provide an opportunity for people who see my work to unleash and free their imagination.

Your art work "Alternate dimension: Gensou Kenran" was put up for auction on OpenSea and sold for 13 million yen. Please tell us the behind-the-scenes story of the production and how you felt when it was purchased.

Sekiguchi: It was the first work I put up for auction as an NFT, and I was surprised and happy when it sold at auction. Until then, there was no system for selling digital art itself. I often received a request from a client, created the work, and received a fee.

The good thing about client work is that it brings together many professionals, so you can create type of projects that you couldn't create on your own.

However, because the COVID-19 pandemic reduced my workload and I had more free time, I decided to just create something I like, so I created "Alternate dimension: Gensou Kenran." I was very happy that the work I created was valued after being exhibited.

Digital art was difficult to value because it can be easily copied, even if it was good, but I was happy that the original value was recognized through NFTs, and I felt like I was on the starting line as a VR artist for the first time.

Until now, I think there were few digital artists who had the feeling that they were doing the work on their own from scratch. When you get a client work and try to run the work smoothly, you end up creating something that the public wants without realizing it.

I think one of the things that attracts people to artists is the way they create work from a perspective that the world has never seen before, so I sometimes think that in the long run, they are far from leaving behind works that will be talked about for future generations.

Medieval European painters had patrons and created works that could be passed down to future generations, but I think NFTs may be a new system that replaces that.