Francien Krieg asks the questions that nobody else asks through her portraits. "You know, you were born in this body and you will die in this body. But somehow I feel a lot of distance to it as well; this inside of the body. What is going on is so fascinating for me.”

For years, Francien has painted stories. Stories that attempt to understand the obscure object that is the human body, that probe vulnerability and femininity, and that explore how we perceive the ageing process. Known for her melancholic life paintings of older women, Francien’s work has exhibited all over the world.

But her work in NFTs has earned her a new audience for her work. “For 20 years it was pretty difficult for me to sell my work, because somehow people don’t want to have naked, older women on the wall!” With NFTs, she has seen buyers and collectors look at art in a different way, into what your art is about as much as what it looks like. She sat down with Leo Nasskau to explore her journey as an artist, finding her artistic voice, creating an eclectic set of collections, and now discovering and expressing herself in web3.

Our favourite quote?
“My father was always very interested in life after death, and I grew up with this kind of background. My fascination with life and death started there, and that’s connected to the death of our body. I’m surprised that not everybody has this fascination, because how can you not want to know more?”