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In the liminal space between waking and sleep — where reality blurs and logic folds in on itself — X New Worlds finds their artistic spark.
A visual artist and digital designer by trade, they’ve long been drawn to surrealism and the subconscious, but it wasn’t until the summer of 2023 that those fascinations fully fused with AI. What began as a casual experiment with new generative tools quickly spiraled into a full-blown practice: one that animates hallucinations, mimics the auditory chaos of sleep paralysis, and renders lucid dreams with uncanny precision.
Rather than chasing trends or aesthetic polish, X New Worlds embraces unpredictability. Their process is deeply layered — storyboarding dreamlike narratives, weaving in distorted field recordings, and using tools like ComfyUI to coax arcane imagery from neural networks. The results feel less like outputs and more like transmissions from a collective unconscious. Viral videos followed — racking up millions of views — and so did exhibitions, from Fellowship’s Daily.xyz showcase to Times Square and the Saatchi Gallery. But for X New Worlds, the goal remains constant: to push beyond the visible and render what’s experienced but rarely discussed.
Each edition of Next Up showcases a new artist from our curated list of ascendant talents who have been making significant waves throughout digital art. This week, our spotlight turns to X New Worlds.
Matt Medved: How did you first become interested/involved in digital art?
X New Worlds: I’ve been interested in digital art since 2015 when I first learned how to code. I have always enjoyed experimenting with digital technologies whether that be exploring CSS art, animation, collage or 3d. I’m a digital designer and visual artist by trade so have always enjoyed learning new mediums to push my practice forward. I started ‘X New Worlds’ in the summer of 2023 as a fun experimentation portal to learn about new AI and digital technologies and quickly became hooked and excited by the endless possibilities of these new mediums.
“I tend to lean toward the absurd and surreal in my artwork. Much of my work explores the different phenomenological states of sleep, such as lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, insomnia and false awakening.”
X New Worlds
How would you describe your art?
I tend to lean toward the absurd and surreal in my artwork. Much of my work explores the different phenomenological states of sleep, such as lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, insomnia and false awakening. I have experienced all of these states personally and find it fascinating how you can have these intensely visceral experiences that feel, in the moment, indiscernible from waking reality. What all of these states have in common is that you are on the precipice of being awake and asleep – and it is this ephemeral state in which many interesting and bizarre things happen. The way AI sifts through troves of data is, arguably, similar to how our brains process memories during sleep. This, for me, makes AI the perfect medium to explore the nature of consciousness as it is inherently dream-like.
What’s your process like? And where do you usually find inspiration?
I draw a lot of inspiration from Philosophy. I’ve recently read quite a few works by the Philosopher, Bernardo Kastrup, and have been fascinated by his Analytic Idealism. He purports that reality is fundamentally a mental construct, where everything, including the physical world, is created by consciousness, and our individual minds are just small parts of a larger, universal mind. Also, different theories of consciousness, explored by great thinkers such as Jung and Freud who argue that our subconscious permeates most of our reality in some way.
My process usually involves storyboarding images together to create a narrative. I’m also very inspired by sound – I like to record and collect various sounds that I then distort and weave together to try, for example, to imitate the audio hallucinations I have when I experience sleep paralysis. Once I have the images and sound in place, I then animate them. As AI is hard to control this often fuels further inspiration as it is fun to draw out the idiosyncrasies of working with this technology. Recently, I’ve been working predominantly in ComfyUI – there is much more granular control, and the pace at which this technology evolves amazes me. The final step is to concatenate everything together and further distort in programs such as After Effects or Premiere Pro.
“I like to record and collect various sounds that I then distort and weave together to try, for example, to imitate the audio hallucinations I have when I experience sleep paralysis.”
X NEW WORLDS
What was your breakthrough moment in web3?
I’m not sure I’ve necessarily had a ‘breakthrough’ moment as of yet but there have been a few crystallizing moments for me as an artist. These include, when a few of my videos went viral on Instagram – one hitting 6.1M views and the other reaching 5.1m. Shortly after, I was invited to join Fellowship by Alejandro Cartagena as a Daily.xyz artist, allowing me to join a showcase of emerging and established talent in the AI art space. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to exhibit all over the world from the Digital Subcultures exhibition in Seoul to Times Square in NYC and most recently at the Saatchi Gallery in London as part of an exhibition called PIVOTAL: Digitalism curated by Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou.
What are the biggest challenges facing rising artists in web3?
As tools become more democratized, it’s increasingly important for artists to distinguish themselves and push their practice forward. It’s easy to get distracted by social media or focus on what sells, but the best work isn’t always what gets the most likes. The key is to stay true to your vision and remember why you’re creating in the first place—purpose and passion should drive your work.
What advice do you have for rising artists in this space?
Community is everything. Collaborating and pushing each other forward makes everyone’s work better in the long run. The amazing work I see, especially from Fellowship, inspires me to keep pushing my own practice.
Persevere. Sometimes starting is the hardest part, and not everything will be amazing, but persistence is key—don’t give up. Don’t allow your doubts about yourself or your art to become destructive.
Ignore the noise. Stay focused on your vision, and don’t let distractions pull you away from what matters most. It’s important to find the space to experiment. Sometimes the noise can come from you, and doing something different will ultimately help you to find an original artistic style.
