Fatimah Zahra is a Muslim digital artist and recent graduate of Clinical Physiology from the University of Lagos. In this episode of ‘Into Her Life’, Fatimah talks about how art saved her mentally, and financially.
Q: Before we get into it, who is Fatimah?
Fatimah: Wow. That’s hard. I’ve never had to actually define myself before. If I had to though, I’d say Fatimah is a 22-year-old digital artist and a full-time material gworl.
Q: Explain your job to me like I’m a child.
Fatimah: I am a digital artist and also an NFT artist which means I sell digital art as NFTs. The main work here is that I create art, digital art. And my type of art is portrait art, I love to draw beautiful women. It started out as something I was just doing for fun because there was nothing for me to do. Digital art is a great career path for me because I get to just sit in my house and draw.
I’m very introverted so relating with people for an extended period of time gets tiring, art was my way out of that. I started drawing on my phone and I’d just use a pen and draw whatever it is that came to my head and whoever it is that came to my head and then name them. I started in September and I’ve drawn give or take 25 portraits. I’ve put out some, some are still in my archives. Drawing for me just comes; once I get inspiration, I create a rough sketch in my head and I start drawing with my iPad. It takes me 3-4 days to draw on average, sometimes even weeks, depending on what I’m drawing.
So yes, my job is drawing digitally and putting it up as an NFT. That’s the easy part, the hard part is getting collectors to see these works which is a lot of marketing – a lot of putting myself out there, explaining the art, explaining the story behind it. Just trying to connect with an audience that appreciates and collects art.
Q: So being a digital artist comes before being an NFT artist?
Fatimah: Yes. Even if the metaverse ever stops existing, I’ll still be an artist.
Q: Cool. You said something about collectors, care to explain?
Fatimah: Yeah. These are collectors of art but in the NFT space.
Q: What I’m hearing is, rich people.
Fatimah: Something like that. It’s people that are rich in Ethereum or cryptocurrency. There’s also something about the NFT space – anybody can be a collector. As an artist, I have collected art from my fellow Nigerian artists. I collect art that I like and that I can afford. Other artists have collected my work. It’s really an ecosystem and we’re supporting each other. If I see art that’s from another artist and I can afford it, yes, I’m going to get it. Since I’ve done that, technically, you can call me a collector. Not a big-time one because I don’t have a lot of money yet but yes, I have collected art and appreciated it and the artist has gotten value for their work.
Q: All I know is that I’m adding you to my ‘eat-the-rich’ list. Was going into this industry a conscious career decision?
Fatimah: Don’t add me to any list yet o. I won’t say it was a conscious career decision. My trajectory has always been – try to graduate uni, apply for internships, struggle to go to NYSC or not. At the end of the day, it’s the allowance that’ll make me go for NYSC. Basically, my whole plan after finishing school was to apply to places for internships and do unpaid labour. I just knew that if I didn’t do something to keep myself busy, I was going to lose my mind.
I went into art as an escape because it’s something that I can control. When monetizing came into the equation as NFTs, I just went in like, “Okay, let’s give this a shot.” Honestly, I expected everything to go to shit in the first few weeks but I’m here now and I’ve never been so relieved. If I wasn’t doing art, I’d probably be doing a 9-5 and losing my mind.
Q: Is this something your family knows you do?
Fatimah: Yeah my mum and my siblings know. I always call them every time I make a sale.
Q: That’s very nice. Are they supportive or are they pressuring you to get a ‘real’ job?
Fatimah: Oh they’re supportive. At some point, they were pressuring me to go to NYSC but I think they’ve realised that I’m never going to listen. I’m going to go when I want to go.
Q: NYSC is the ghetto actually. You’re a woman and you’re black and you’re queer, how has navigating the NFT space been?
Fatimah: This question is really tough. On one hand, it has been a very journey for me; there’s been the support of black women and queer people and we’ve really curated a safe space for each other. But on the other hand, there are so many microaggressions. Not directly at me but at the black community and the queer community. The racism and sexism are very obvious, I can’t even start to talk about the stuff that I have seen. And as a Nigerian in the NFT space, it’s so disheartening to be told that you are a scammer, you’d have collectors block you once they hear you’re Nigerian. And as a queer Nigerian, you’d have to go the extra step of hiding your identity.
Recently, I was outed to my family and it’s been incredibly tough. I have so many projects I want to do with queer people and it’s just tough trying to navigate all these identities. It’s tough trying to be not out there where I can get outed and get in trouble, but I also want to be out there and connect with other queer people and just be part of a community that supports me too. It’s been a bittersweet journey with ups and downs. And the downsides aren’t even supposed to be there.
There’s a lot of sexism and blatant misogyny. International Women’s Day really brought out the gap between women in NFTs and the men in the NFTs. People might not see it because of the handful of women that are winning in the community but that’s just it, it’s a handful of women. Meanwhile, there are a lot of women that aren’t in the spotlight but they create really amazing art and they’re doing awesome things for the community but nobody hears about them. It’s really heartbreaking to see that things like this are still happening even in a web3 space where we’re preaching inclusivity. Women have to try harder to be seen and for their art and hard work to be appreciated. It’s annoying really.
Q: Sounds like an uphill battle. Many people worry that the NFT space is an echo chamber, especially the Nigerian NFT space. Is there anything you think would make it more accessible to the public and other people?
Fatimah: In terms of this, one of the ways I think it could be accessible is by informing people about it. Crypto is banned in Nigeria so talking about it could get you in lots of trouble. You know how Nigeria is, once the government sees something that is working out for Nigerians, they are going to find a way to ruin it. With the ban on crypto, you have to use a backdoor to access the NFT marketplaces. There is no problem actually with NFT marketplaces but then the wallet to actually accessing the marketplaces to be able to put your work up so when you get a sale, it goes straight to your wallet and you’d be able to access your funds. It’s just a long and annoying process and you might even lose money along the way.
Another thing is the money to even mint your work; to get into some marketplaces so you can display your work, you need to pay money in Ethereum – minting fees. We call it gas fees. Most people don’t have it. A lot of people want to get into the NFT space but they don’t have the money for it. So yeah, educating people, onboarding people, providing money for their gas fees. That’s all I can think of. One thing I know is that Nigerians will always take up space in every space. I can slowly see the way Nigerians are taking over the NFT space, home and abroad, although here in Nigeria with the forces of darkness, aka, the government working against you, it’s harder.
Q: Nigerians are stubborn and loud, it’s a given. The Nigerian NFT space seems like an ‘everybody knows who everybody is’ kind of space. How has that worked out for you?
Fatimah: It’s kind of true. Everybody kind of knows everybody but at the same time, it’s more about building a community. In my experience, I’ve seen that no matter what you do in the NFT space, it’s the people in your community that would be able to help. If we’re going to be honest, I really think I’m winging it in this space. I just create art and I put it out there and try to market it everywhere. And the Nigerian NFT community is just filled with support, if there’s an opportunity, you get tagged and then you tag other artists and it’s just everybody trying to bring everybody up. It’s left to the people offering the opportunity to actually give it to us but within the community, there’s so much support.
Q: Communities are important. What’s the funniest thing that has happened to you in this space?
Fatimah: I don’t think this qualifies as funny but when I first joined the NFT community, I was joining a lot of spaces made by women for other women of colour. One day, I was in a space where I was talking about how men tokenize women’s art and we were just talking about our experiences. There was a fellow ARMY on the space and she’s really big, her name is Maliha and she’s the founder of Women Rise NFT, and she came into my dm and we were just talking and fangirling. The next thing I knew, I got an email that I had a sale. She had bought my art. It was just really funny and amazing that I got a sale just from being a BTS stan. It warms my heart meeting BTS stans, ARMYs in the NFT space.
There’s one that’s more annoying than funny, I posted my art and someone came to the comment section to say “Oh well, it’s not even all that.” And I told them to go and draw their own. It’s just wild to me that people would just say things like that with nothing they’ve achieved.
Q: Art for a lot of people is subjective and morphs over time. Do you think that as you grow, your art style would change? Or do you just want to stick to portraits?
Fatimah: I have thought about this and hopefully I am able to explore other art styles. But as a Neurodivergent, it’s very hard for me to change and do new things. Like when I got my iPad, having to switch from drawing on my phone to my iPad but I did it anyway. And then I had to move from Adobe Fresco to using Procreate. It was so hard for me but I did it anyway. It’s just hard for me to change but when I do it, it’s always very good. I’m trying to grow and expand as an artist and be better. Portrait art would always be my favourite though, my baby.
Q: As a fellow ND, I see you. How do you deal with creative blocks?
Fatimah: I have very weird ways of dealing with creative blocks. I splurge, spending money recklessly. And in my mind, I’m telling myself that if you spend all this money finish and there’s no art to sell, you’ll go broke. Being broke is one of my greatest fears.
Then there’s good ol’ taking a break; going out, watching a movie, talking to friends, drinking bubble tea. There’s this restaurant I go to and just drink bubble tea and hope that everything is okay. Also, watching videos and seeing the works of other artists, inspires me.
Q: Overall best in rich woman. Money moves. Speaking of money, what’s the highest you’ve ever made from a sale? (This is research for whether you’ll be number one on my ‘eat-the-rich’ list.)
Fatimah: Please. If you really want to know, the highest I’ve made is 1.6 Eth, which according to the exchange is like $4,000 or $4,500. I can’t remember.
Q: Please are you looking for children to adopt? Adopt me. You’re big on advocacy and feminism, do you have any projects in the works for making space for more POC women and queers in the space?
Fatimah: Please o. Right now, I don’t have any projects but I hope to have them in the future. One thing I did when I got a huge sale was that I paid for the gas fees of two women and I bought art from women. I also have responsibilities but I’m so glad I was able to do that in my little way. I’m trying to do what I can. And then onboarding women, educating them, sending them links so they don’t fall into the hands of scammers and stupid men.
Q: Love that. Biggest achievement in the space?
Fatimah: My biggest achievement, for now, is Twitter buying my work. At one point, I thought that my work was being undervalued but then Twitter came to the rescue. I also have a bunch of blue tick collectors, I think I have three of them. But Twitter buying my work is still my biggest achievement, one of my greatest fears is that I won’t be able to top that but I keep pushing regardless.
Q: You’re already scaling up, don’t worry about it. Where do you see yourself going with this as a career?
Fatimah: One of the things I see is that I really want to be very successful. I want to have so much art to my name and reach so many people. And have people be like, ‘Yeah, I own a piece by Fatimah.’ I want the first thing that comes to people’s minds when they hear my name is that she’s a black Muslim woman and she’s an artist.
My definition of success is different I think because I don’t aim for really high things, when they come I embrace them. I also want to be bloody rich, material girl type of rich. Catching flights everywhere. Vacation with the girls kind of rich. And also onboard other women into the space. I’ve had people tell me that they’ve gotten back into art and NFTs because of me and it warms my heart. I want to be able to do that on a larger scale.
Q: Looking forward to it. What’s your favourite thing about this space?
Fatimah: My favourite about this space is the women. Women. In. NFT. God. I have seen beautiful women, and then their beautiful creations. Wow. I’m in love with all of them and I’m going to propose to all of them. Women. Alhamdulillah.
Q: Wow.
Fatimah: Please, I am a proud ashawo for the women in NFT.
Q: I see. What’s your least favourite thing?
Fatimah: It’ll have to be the constant shilling. Shilling is going into a space to talk about your work, tell a story behind it, that kind of thing. I feel that it’s ableist because some people can’t talk in spaces so how would they talk about their work? Some people are non-verbal, some are disabled. How would they talk in spaces? There’s just a lot of ass-kissing and there’s just the chance of losing yourself.
The constant shilling for sure, makes me feel like I’m hawking my art like a gala seller. There are also foreign collectors that want to underprice your work just because you’re Nigerian. They’ll just make you feel bad and undervalue yourself and your work. They’ll just believe that we’re poor and we should just take whatever nonsense they give us.
Q: That must suck, I’m sorry. Do you have any regrets?
Fatimah: The one I regret the most is underpricing my work, reducing the cost because one collector said it was priced too high. Then another is the fact that I didn’t maximise the buzz I got from Twitter buying my work. I didn’t have a lot of art available then so that passed me by. But it has happened, it has happened.
Q: Any word to your younger self?
Fatimah: You’re different and it’s fine to be different. Totally fine. You’re not like everybody and that’s absolutely okay. You’re the only person that’s going to be there for you at all times. You’re going to make it and get everything you want, well not everything, you can’t get Jungkook and Namjoon, but almost everything.
Q: If we could have, we would have. Is there something you want to add?
Fatimah: I wanted to talk about how the NFT space affects mental health. Because as much as there’s a lot of positivity, there’s also a lot of toxicity and it’s less from other people and more of the standards you set for yourself. Recently, I’ve been under a lot of pressure because I wanted to surpass all my achievements in January. My second collection wasn’t doing too well and my self-esteem was in the gutter. Mentally, I wasn’t doing so well. I’m trying to learn to not put so much pressure on myself because everybody has a different pace. Because one person is winning doesn’t mean you’re not going to win too.
You should make your journey in the NFT space your personal journey and focus on yourself. It’s hard but you’d be better for it. And take breaks when you need them. There’s a lot of FOMO – Fear of Missing Out – in the NFT space but if you’re dead, there’ll be nothing for you to experience. Take breaks, leave Twitter for a while. Go outside, touch grass, talk to people.
And desist from chasing after collectors. I don’t mean stop talking about your work, but pursuing collectors like you’re pursuing a love interest? It’s not going to work. Don’t hoe for collectors, the collectors that would find you would find you when you’re talking about your work and they’d buy it. Don’t try to force relationships with collectors. Just let it flow naturally.
