Artist & KiKi’s Rise
“Web3 is wild. It has changed my life completely.”
“A year and a half ago, if you had asked me what my life would have been today, I can assure you it would not be what it is today. Web3 is wild. It has changed my life completely.”
The power of web3 – and NFTs – are apparent throughout this yearbook. However, Swickie’s story is exceptional. Growing up, she was driven by a wild imagination and creative passion. She worked in publishing, the film industry, and eventually built a career in branding.
Swickie’s first NFT was an NBA TopShot pack. She was instantly hooked. After building a small collection and minting a Bored Ape, she created her own visual art NFTs: the Moonbeam Collection. Being in the sports and art arena of digital collectibles allowed her to build relationships with a spectrum of communities, learn about web3 and blockchain technologies, and co-create the culture of the NFT space.
Since then, she has created 16 visual art and photography collections and, alongside her partner, Peter Fang, co-founded Space Dust and OtherBlock. Space Dust is an art collective that brings NFTs into IRL, creating one of the first digital-physical experiences in web3, including established fashion collabs, murals, live mint gallery events, onboarding artists into web3 and collaborating with partners to co-create The OtherBlock. OtherBlock Miami ‘22 took Miami Art Basel by storm, an art, music, and tech festival oriented to the BAYC community.
The most pivotal turning point in building her collection and utilizing her branding expertise was minting a Bored Ape and purchasing a second one a few months later for the purpose of fully engaging with the IP rights. In July 2021, she attended Josh Ong’s first BAYC meetup and assisted APED Collective in hosting the second one two weeks later. “Everything just snowballed from there!”
When Punks Comic announced a bracket contest to feature eight BAYC in Issue 2, she knew it was the perfect opportunity to test creating a brand with the second ape, later named Kiki. Winning Punks Comic was just the beginning, as Kiki’s brand successfully launched a fashion collab with Dee.Calvero, a Los Angeles mural collab with Rich Uno, creating Team Kiki basketball team for NFTBA, and partnering with web3 brands to host parties during NFT NYC and Miami Art Basel. She has a loyal fan base. There are many more exciting IRL partnerships to come for Kiki.
