In this series we will be highlighting queer and trans leaders in Web3 with a focus on individuals of color. With emphasis, this is something that has never been done before in Web3. Our ecosystem consists of queer and trans artists from around the world who are working across the new era internet.

For our first artist highlight as hosted as a live conversation on Twitter Spaces (@PrismQTBIPOC3) we talked to our very own Draco (@thedraagon_)! When I met Draco for the first time, I immediately noticed his dazzling style and the way he carried himself. Draco was in fact, a bad bitch --- and he knew it. From our first conversations, I was delighted by his authenticity, there is a rawness to this artist that comes off immediately. This is someone who truly wears his heart on his sleeve and his emotions on his face, complimentary to the, powerful yet absolutely beautiful, pieces from his genesis collection that were displayed at the Prism World NYC gallery this year.

Draco is a multi-hyphenate artist working across photography, illustration, digital art and music. Last week we got the opportunity to explore Draco’s two part genesis collection FRIDRAKO.

Part one of the collection features a series of digital art and photography pieces and is out and available to be collected as NFTs on Foundation & OBJKT. Part two of the series is an accompanying musical project which is set to be released this year. And for all of these pieces, Draco pulled inspiration directly from artist and icon -- Frida Kahlo. Draco speaks about Frida:

Ren: Okay, so let's talk about FRIDRAKO and I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right. Is it FRIDRAKO (FRI-DRA-KO)?

Draco: So it's a play on Frida Kahlo and Draco. So it reads Draco or Fridrako.? Oh, yeah. I guess (FREE-DRAH-KO) just with the accent.

Draco: When I think about my journey with getting to know Frida, I think about how her life was filled with pain, physical pain. Imagine being constantly either in pain or immobile. Then there was love and then the occasional heartbreak and heart ache. And I'm sure that love must have been a wonderful distraction from that pain. Maybe that's why she chased after Diego. Sometimes I think maybe Frida became so attached because maybe she thought that no other man could love her. Considering she was disabled and couldn't bear children, I feel like that could be heavy on a person: insecurities, emotional pain. And she managed to transform that into visual, introspective reflections of herself. That's why my approach and working with Frida is one of admiration and respect.

Draco is inspired by Frida’s immense physical and emotional pain and how she coped through her art.

Draco:

Frida was a G. Frida definitely put up with a bunch of bullshit. And even so, the vibe I get from Diego's depiction of her in the painting is a female who stood her ground. What drew me to this painting was the scissors in her hands. Immediately, I thought about how the Bible describes a woman's hair as her sacred veil. And here comes Frida, scissor in hand and looking at you right in the eyes. I feel like it definitely takes a certain amount of frustration to actually push a woman to cut off her hair. It makes me think about Britney. She wasn't crazy. She was reclaiming her time.

Being unapologetically herself and standing ten toes down in who she is and what she believes in connects with Draco and his growth into himself. As he noted, it took a lot of time, energy and pain for the transformation to where he is today. A first generation, queer, Guatemalan-Ecuadorian young man, a mayan prince, as he often refers to himself, there were many barriers to this growth along the way. He talks openly about his last breakup and the pain that he felt through it, another major inspiration for the self portraits in this collection, similar to Frida’s portrait inspiration after her divorce with ex-husband and fellow artist Diego Riviera and her decision to cut her hair and mark a new period in her life.

Draco talks about his initial hesitation to put his face on the blockchain and the emotions he went through minting these pieces.

DeLady Khepera:

I just really wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your art with us. It is so beautiful. Like you literally channeled Frida. Like, is literally all over your face throughout this entire collection. Also, I love how you said that it kind of came about after you went through like a bad breakup. I find that, you know, art can be made from so many different things. It can be made from joy and happiness. But I feel like that artwork that you make after you go through a really transformative time is there. I really do feel like that. So thank you so much for being vulnerable enough to share that with us, and thank you so much for being the beautiful person that you are.

Draco: I mean, I was even just hesitant to put my face on the blockchain and to have my face be a piece that exists forever. I don't even know where it was coming from, but I guess in a way from like a capitalistic sort of mind frame, like, who's going to buy this? Who's going to collect this? But I wanted to keep my intention that I had when I came into Web three, that is honest and vulnerable but also in a way that starts the conversation. And that's why I didn't go the music route. I went with the visual piece because, um, there's very much a story to where even the music comes from. And I feel like this is the best way for everyone to just get to know where I'm coming from and get the vibe of it.

Days before our conversation, Draco sent me tracks from the second part of his collection for feedback (don’t be jealous) --- and they are just as raw and real as his art. To read more about his collection, inspirations and process of creation you can check out Draco’s self-scribed article on Mirror. Draco is an exciting artist to watch and a beacon of culture, authenticity and beauty which you can all see in his work. Be on the lookout for part two of his genesis piece FRIDRAKO and in the meantime collect the visual art pieces from the collection on Foundation & OBJKT while they are still available.

You can also listen to the full conversation here.