Lady Pheønix is creating art in the metaverse with a mission to preserve memory and inspire important conversations about identity

Artist and curator Lady Pheønix believes that the metaverse is a world of infinite possibility! Pheønix wants to build a future of love and compassion, in which people can find unity by coming together in virtual reality. To that end, Pheønix creates impactful art projects in augmented reality that are designed to bring people together and start meaningful conversations about identity. 

Lady Pheønix describes herself as “born of the internet.” She explains to In The Know, “I think I’m the great-granddaughter of The Oracle from The Matrix. Or maybe I’m her great-grandmother, actually, since that’s a future tale. I care about the future and I care that human beings are in the right relationship with their purpose and the earth.”

Pheønix sees the metaverse as a second chance for humans to build a more compassionate world. “I’m hoping that with all of our brain power, all of our heart power, all of our brilliance as a collective that we will seek to do more and be more in these next worlds that we’re creating,” she explains. “We don’t always get a real second chance to do things, and now as architects of the future, we have a real second chance to build our world in a way that reflects our highest, most beautiful, most divine, most conscious selves.”

Pheønix is an artist who primarily works in AR and VR, and has launched a variety of projects to start conversations. She founded a metaverse fashion show called Crypto Fashion Week in order to explore the relationship between humans and nature. “We have our entire fashion show on the ocean,” she tells In The Know. “We’re doing it on the ocean so that we can invite people into conversation about the coral reef and the state of the ocean, and our relationship with Mother Nature. Nature is never part of the conversation for representation, so with Crypto Fashion Week, for example, we wanted to bring nature into that.”

In addition to Crypto Fashion Week, Pheønix has launched several permanent metaverse installations. She founded the Museum of Digital Diaspora, which is a metaverse museum designed to showcase the work of digital artists. “Patrons or visitors to the museum, what they can do is similar to what they can do here IRL,” she explains. “They go into the museum, there’s someone to greet you at the front desk, you’re guided to an exhibition on the main floor, which is the Thelonious Monk exhibition and you’re also guided upstairs which is an exhibition called Music Men by artist Rah Crawford.”

Pheønix also launched an AR experience called Breonna’s Garden, which allows people to pay their respects to Breonna Taylor. “This project is about reuniting two sisters. It’s a story of love and reuniting those two sisters in the metaverse,” says Pheønix. “It’s also a story of unity and community, because we invite other people to the project to leave a message in the garden for their loved one. So each of the flowers inside of the garden holds a message, holds a memory of someone’s loved one.”

Above all, Pheønix hopes that her work in the metaverse helps people be their best selves. She tells In The Know, “If we’re going to use the metaverse for anything, it’s for these purposes: to uplift humanity, to make a spotlight on love, to bring out the best aspects of who we are, and to also help somebody heal.”

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