Twelve-year-old digital artist Nyla Hayes’ has been named TIMEPiece’s first Artist-in-Residence.
Hayes made history when she sold $3.4 million in digital currency (NFT’s, which stands for non-fungible token) with her Long Neckie Collection. The NFT series portrays women with elongated necks. The fun-loving collection was inspired by her favorite dinosaur, the Brontosaurus, according to People of Color in Tech.
The publication also notes that Hayes is also the founder of NFT Children’s Day.
“I started drawing at 4. When I was 9, my parents got me a smartphone to make digital art,” Hayes told TIME for Kids. “I made drawings of people with long necks, which I call Long Neckies. This past March, my uncle told my mom about NFTs. We watched YouTube to learn how to create and sell them. Soon, people were buying NFTs of my Long Neckies. I have made more than 960 ETH. (That’s digital currency worth about $3.4 million.) Being part of the NFT community is amazing!”
According to TIME, the Artist-in-Residence was “created to provide artists with the essentials needed to advance their careers through NFTs, TIMEPieces will select an Artist-in-Residence quarterly to develop an intimate, focused collection of art in addition to the larger initiatives featured in the Build a Better Future Genesis Collection.”
The outlet adds that the collections “will continue to allow TIME to bring art on to the blockchain that marries the artist’s signature style with a renowned TIME franchise. This extends TIME’s nearly 100-year tradition of highlighting great artists and photographers of a given era while leading the brand into new innovative spaces—in this case NFT’s and Web3.”
Hayes’s collection will be unveiled on November 17th, 2021, for holders of TIMEPieces and TIMECats.
