The All Seeing Seneca

A Little Cosmic Horror and Candyland

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“I think, in its purest form, my art is a visually tangible expression of inner emotions and my ways of coping with life and experience,” Seneca tells me over Zoom one morning, and the first thing that I thought to myself was the struggle she must have found herself in while balancing commercial art with ambitions of studio practice. Pragmatically speaking, Seneca was on top of the world. Garnering illustration awards and lead designing the infamous NFT, Bored Ape Yacht Club, the Chinese-American was representative of a new world of art and accessibility. But sit down with collectors of the BAYC NFTs and ask them to name the designer. Would they know who Seneca is? That is the conundrum of designing one of the most famous icons of the decade: it was just that, a design project. Seneca wants something more.

Perhaps this hidden notoriety gave her something less accessible: time. In the last few years, Seneca has been able to build a more traditional practice, placing her on the forefront of multiple worlds of fine art painting, digital practices, and commercial designs more in line with her interests and wonderfully twisted dream worlds that resonate no matter the platform. We spoke with the All Seeing Seneca (as described on her website) and learned about growing up in Shanghai, character design, and how some things just fizzle out.

Evan Pricco: We should start with the direction your career has taken, from commercial illustration work to your current focus on a more personal, fine art practice.