We’ve all been there: venting into your journal, sticking it in a drawer, digging it out ages later and then, well, cringing.
Vinnie Hager’s been there, too. But his journal is his drawings. And not only has the Baltimore-based artist fully embraced the ick of his past feelings and musings, he’s also published them in a beautiful digital art project titled, with appropriate upfront-ness, Diary.
“[I’ve taken] a look back through all the ‘stages’ or ‘eras’ of my artworks,” says the 26-year-old. He found that, with his old drawings, “just like listening to a certain song could transport you back to a time and place in your life, each of these artworks do the same for me”.
Hager’s collection — an open edition digital artwork with 100 lucky owners set to receive an original drawing to match – is undeniably intimate, focusing less on what looks“good” and more so what feels right. His unmistakable style consists of experimental mark-making. Bold lines, shapes and patterns connect through their form and structure like a jigsaw puzzle. They create a personal visual language, used in the collection as a response to the turbulence of loss and grief that Hager was experiencing in the seven years covered by his drawings.
As the press release explains, “every digital artwork purchased will stand distinct, drawing from 12 diverse aesthetic categories and multiple colourways… Striving for universal accessibility in the art market, each piece in the open edition is priced at $86 and owners of these digital art works can further claim a physical print of their purchase at a later date.”
This, then, is a personal, intimate diary, shared as a “phygital” experience.