Who are you?
My name is Estelle Flores, I’m 32 yo and graduated in Graphic Design in Curitiba/Brazil in 2010.
When did you start playing the Sims?
I started playing The Sims when I was 14 yo, and the painting thing started around 2017 when I reinstalled the game as an adult. I started formulating this project in 2020 but it never got accepted into any exhibition or any other formal art space, until it found its final form as NFTs.
When did you start making art?
I’ve been making art since I’ve graduated, which is weird because I’ve graduated in Design, but life is weird! I started by illustrating first commercially and then in a sort of intersectional and experimental way through my risograph studio Selva Press, making zines and participating in zine fairs. In 2015 I also started working with friends in the contemporary art collective Brutas.
How does it feel to be the most successful sims painter in the history of humanity?
I always say to my friends that I’m the first Sims Pro Player in the world hahaha It feels great!
Your pieces have elements of lust and beauty. What inspires this?
This project is a lot about my fantasy and my definitions of “play”, The Sims is a very open sandbox game and the way you play can be so revealing about your desires and underlying intentions. The process in which I understand what I create and why is the very artistic research of this project, so I try to maintain my play experience genuine and instinctive and I always get puzzled by my fantasies that find its way into reality through the paintings I make in the game.
Does the Estelle Flores we see in the art look like the Estelle Flores behind the screen?
There is no Estelle in the game as a character. Why the characters are the way they are is also part of the question I keep asking myself. I think the game aesthetic applied to my work is very much the product of how the players modify the game to cater to their fantasies and aesthetic expectations in terms of gender representations. Because some body parts are not available in the original game, I use mods that are made by the community of players in the internet, making my work subject to this generic distorted global view and I think this is very relevant as it is a very distinct characteristic of the game (being every culture and none at the same time like a mush of different references) and also of our contemporary world.
Why did you start making NFTs?
I started making NFTs as a way to bring this project to life and to make the ends meet in the pandemic time.
What adds value to your art?
I have no idea what adds value to my work, I guess people collecting it! A dream we believe together.
Do you have any creations that stand out to you?
I honestly get surprised almost every week with a new creation, I constantly feel new doors opening inside this game even thought I play it for so many years! I feel I’m just getting there aesthetically even thought I’m in my 222th NFT. The latest piece I fell for is this one: “218 Abstract Melancholy” Also, I have recently collaborated with @luluixixix and that was so cool! Here is the product of our minds pulled together 😉
What plans do you have for the future?
I have many collabs and new projects in line! Things will be happening in the next months!
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