There is a very particular kind of friction that is felt when the eye meets something that feels antropomorphic-al, but also, fantastical. An image that evokes empathy, distinctive of when we relate to a figure on a human level, but it’s just out of reach.

Shejtano is a Munich-based artist that plays with blending the human and the divine, (think of a year 3000 re-edition of the Divine Comedy). We at Coeval feel so lucky to be in conversation with them today.

I think it's amazing what you do, especially the fact that you are self-taught. You have an incredible ability to mix the anthhropomorphic with the fantastic and divine. It's strange and twisted but also - kind of romantic? Also how did you get into NFT's and platforms like Open Sea and Foundation?

-aaand yeah NFTs i think open sea and foundation are the biggest NFT websites so i really wanted to sell my art on them. it was kinda hard to get an invite to foundation because i didnt knew that many artist who do NFTs. because i was pretty new to digital art when NFTs started. but with the time i got to know more artists that are my friends today hehe.

Why did you decide to become an artist/3D designer?

I used to make music together with some friends of mine. I enjoyed the creative process a lot. At some point we thought it would be nice to not only mix our own music but design our own cover art as well. That's how I started becoming interested in digital art. I've never been very gifted when it comes to traditional art but I really wanted to find a way to express my thoughts and visions. 3D art happened to be the easiest way for me to do so. I've always admired artists a lot, the way they manage to capture what we usually can't grasp or visualize entirely new worlds. I wanted to do the same.

Where do you get your design inspirations from?

I've always been really impressed by artists such as Hans Rudolf Giger or Yoshitaka Amano. Their work shows a lot of sci-fi, cyber punk, gothic and mythological elements, things that can be seen in my artwork as well. Besides that I'm also constantly inspired by the things I see around me, the way I experience the world as well as other cultures and religions.

I see a lot of mystical creatures on your designs, demons, angels…does religion have some influence on your work?

Yes, definitely. I'm very interested in old scriptures, legends of mystical beings and divine creatures and ancient art. Lately, I've come across old middle-eastern paintings of dschinns that I found really interesting. I think it's fascinating how people used to image the world, where their believes and the existance of these ancient beings originate from.

Is there a movie that influenced you during your career as an artist?

I've been a huge fan of the art style of the late 90s, early 2000s so a lot of my favorite movies are from that period. Some of the films that influenced my aesthetical taste are the Matrix trilogy, Riddick and Pitch Black. I also enjoy watching anime. Especially shows like Gantz, HunterxHunter, Lain or Ghost in the shell as well as Mangas like Berserk or Homunculus have influenced me in my idea of supernatural humans.