Meet Acidhatmat
Matt, known in the digital art world as Acidhatmat, has lived many lives through his art. Born in Cape Town and now based in Cornwall with his wife and two kids, creativity has always been the current running through his story. His father, a painter and picture framer, made sure art was part of the everyday. Matt was the kid sketching strange characters instead of focusing on the lesson, a natural-born creator who couldn’t help but make. His path wasn’t a straight line. After a brief flirtation with graphic design and 3D animation, life took a darker turn. Addiction pulled him away from structure and toward chaos. But even there, art was waiting, a mirror and a medicine. “It was when I started using art in a more meaningful way,” he says. “Not just as something to do, but as a way to express what was going on inside me.” A profound psychedelic experience later reset everything. He moved to the coast, got clean, and began again, painting, experimenting, reconnecting. By 2018, his practice evolved into the hybrid world of digital manipulation, photographing his abstract paintings and reshaping them digitally. When crypto and NFTs entered the picture, it all clicked. Solana introduced him to a genuine digital art community, and Bitcoin ordinals sealed it: “It felt like carving a moment of creativity into digital history.”
Push and Pull
Acidhatmat’s art lives in tension, the push and pull between chaos and control, between human touch and algorithmic order. His approach is fluid and instinctive. “I never plan a piece out. I just start with colour, texture, or movement and see where it goes.” His process bridges multiple mediums: abstract painting, psychedelic illustration, and digital experimentation. Sometimes a work begins as a painting and is reborn through pixels; other times, the digital space becomes his canvas from the start. “What feels most authentic is when a piece surprises me, when it starts taking on a life of its own.” The psychedelic influence runs deep, not only in visuals but in philosophy, exploring interconnectedness, perception, and the ever-thin line between worlds.
Carving Permanence
For Acidhatmat, releasing art on Bitcoin ordinals isn’t just a technical choice, it’s symbolic. “The art actually lives on-chain. It’s literally inscribed into the Bitcoin blockchain. There’s something powerful about that, almost poetic.” He likens it to leaving a digital fossil, a trace of human creativity embedded in a decentralized system. It’s not about hype; it’s about permanence and meaning. “It feels less like a trend and more like a movement that’s here to stay.” This permanence has reshaped how he thinks about legacy: “Knowing that my art will live on this network indefinitely, beyond me, beyond any platform, that’s a pretty powerful feeling.”
Eartheogen and Recursive Block
Among his body of work, Eartheogen holds a special place. Its name fuses “earth” and “entheogen,” a nod to nature, consciousness, and transformation. Born as a physical abstract painting and reborn digitally, it captures what defines him: the breathing union of organic and digital energy. Then there’s Recursive Block, structured, geometric, echoing the blockchain’s rhythm. “I wanted it to feel mechanical and organic at the same time, like order and chaos sitting side by side.” Together, these two works embody his dual artistic language: one emotional and intuitive, the other systematic and reflective.
Never Leaving the Canvas Behind
Though immersed in digital creation, Matt’s roots remain firmly in traditional art. His father’s studio filled with brushes and frames shaped his earliest instincts. His evolution from seascapes and psychedelic-inspired paintings to pure abstraction taught him patience and respect for process. Digital art, to him, is not a departure but an expansion. “It wasn’t about leaving traditional art behind; it was about expanding it. I still see everything I do as painting, it’s just a different kind of brush, a different kind of canvas.”
Growth Through Chaos
Art and personal growth have been inseparable in his life. From battling addiction to rediscovering purpose, the act of creation became survival. “Art gave me purpose when I didn’t really have one. It was never about the outcome; it was about staying connected to something creative and alive.” He’s learned to embrace imperfection, to see value in every stage of the process. “I used to destroy pieces if they weren’t working, but now I see value in the messy ones too.” Community has also reshaped his journey. Digital art circles on Solana and Bitcoin showed him the strength of connection. “There’s a real sense of support and shared growth there,” he says. “Art’s taught me patience, resilience, and humility.”
Between Alex Grey and Pollock
Acidhatmat’s influences span the visionary and the abstract. From Alex Grey and Android Jones’ exploration of consciousness to Pollock and Rothko’s emotional honesty, he draws from both the mystical and the primal. But influence never overshadows instinct. “Even if I’m inspired by others, once I’m in the flow, the work takes on its own personality. As long as it feels honest, it feels original.”
Embrace Uncertainty
Working in crypto art means living in constant flux. Platforms rise and fall, markets shift, and hype cycles churn. Matt learned early to adapt without losing himself. “I’ve learned not to tie my sense of value to the market. My best work happens when I’m disconnected from all that noise when I’m creating purely for myself.” Adaptability, he says, is about staying grounded amid change. “Art’s taught me to be okay with uncertainty, to see change as part of the process, not something to resist.”
Connection
Looking forward, Matt is focused on building something lasting. His upcoming project, MYCLM, channels his love for psychedelic and visionary art into a community-driven brand built on Bitcoin. “It’s about connection between artists, creativity, and nature which is all tied to that mycelium idea of interconnectedness.” Alongside it comes Fruitz, his first generative collection designed to expand his collector base and build community around his vision. “It’s about creating an entry point for people to connect, not just with the art, but with the energy behind it.” For now, he’s laying roots, building momentum, community, and a legacy that, like Bitcoin itself, is designed to last.
“Stay Curious. Stay True.”
For emerging digital artists, his advice is simple but hard-earned: “Stay curious and stay true to yourself. Don’t chase trends, authenticity still stands out.” He encourages experimentation and community. “Make mistakes, break things, find your people. The market will rise and fall, but the art you make from a place of curiosity and emotion, that’s the stuff that lasts.”
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