Today we’d like to introduce you to Liron Eldar-Ashkenazi.
Hi Liron, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Originally from the Middle East, It took blood, sweat and tears to carve my way from the small-town world I grew up in to arrive at the big city: first Tel Aviv, then New York, now LA. Through it all, four things contributed to my journey:
1 – Curiosity
2 – Luck
3 – Hard Work/Discipline
4 – Talent
I’ve numbered these in order of what I believe was the trajectory of my career. The most important thing about any kind of success, in my opinion, is curiosity; you need to truly be interested in what you do. You need to be egoless enough to always ask questions and accept that there’s always more to learn.
Luck is always something I’m so so thankful for. To have parents who supported me always, a husband who’s the best partner, the ability to work through the summers and save enough money to go to one of the best art schools in NYC, School of Visual Arts.
Being in the right place at the right time for incredible opportunities such as being hired by Jessica Walsh at Sagmeister&Walsh on my senior year of college, running the design studio at The-Artery at such a young age, then landing the incredible gig at BUCK.
Which brings me to the next point, which is hard work. I’ve possibly been able to get through some of this list by sheer luck, but definitely not achieved these milestones without working very hard. Working hard for me didn’t necessarily mean long hours or an imbalanced working culture. It’s just meant pouring my heart and soul into everything I did, into every opportunity, and being truly grateful to the people who helped me get there.
Lastly, I guess, is talent, as it is a factor of why I am where I am of course. But I truly believe that it’s the last one on the list. Talent is important, but it won’t get you as far as the other three points on this list. You have to have a good eye, be a creative thinker and have an attraction to problem-solving. It’s why artists and designers and creators pursue this field.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been a beautiful process, full of challenges, wins, and small disappointments. Staying positive even about the unpleasant or frustrating things is what made every moment a teaching moment; for better or worst, I learn and evolve from it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I go by LIŔONA or Liron Eldar-Ashkenazi. I’m a designer, artist, and creator. For work, I’m a Creative Director at BUCK, a global creative company by day, and an independent NFT artist by night. I’ve been working in the design and motion industry since 2010. Born and raised in Israel, later moved to NYC to study design, then work, and nowadays living in Los Angeles.
My work usually falls under minimalistic and bold. I love experimenting with different digital mediums. I’m self-taught in everything related to my 3D practice and went to art school (SVA) for design and animation.
For the past year, I’ve been developing an NFT collectible project that’s made some waves in our industry. My NFT collection #boiz (the#boi) has been wildly successful (both financially and artistically) and created incredible opportunities for my artistic pursuits. (https://opensea.io/collection/the-boi + https://editorial.brytehall.com/lirona-what-happens-when-her-boiz-nft-series-takes-on-a-life-of-its-own/). I was even featured on a Twitter commercial earlier this year with other successful NFT projects. (https://twitter.com/TwitterBlue/status/1484226494708662273?s=20&t=VSiRoqDN_SD4vD3eGzycpg)
My latest achievement was being a part of Sotheby’s Day Sale (Among the works on offer count such names as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Damien Hirst, Christo and Tony Cragg). When I sold a physical print + NFT piece for 27,720 GBP. (https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/modern-contemporary-art-day-auction/ocean-over-sunrise)
In NFT land, my favorite project was in collaboration with LOVE HULTÉN & dissrup.com (https://dissrup.com/drops/synth-boi). We built an interactive #boi display, a working synthesizer. For a few months, we collaborated remotely on all fronts to launch the drop. Each of the 10 Synth#boiz auctioned as an NFT + Physical Machine, for 16ETH each (~50,000$ each).
Aside from that, I advise and creatively support small startups that need design and branding expertise pre and post-launch.
My latest commitment is to the lovely brand Both&. Working with a small grassroots brand Both& from the very beginning was by far my favorite project last year. Both& initially approached me early this summer. Their founder, Finnigan Shepard, a long-time close friend of my husband and I from our college days, a trans man, was interested in creating a start-up in an unusual way, building out a community and online presence for trans and nonbinary folks in order to better understand what they struggle with and wish they could find in clothing before producing any actual clothing.
This meant that the role of storytelling and visuals, both in terms of graphics and photography, was critical to their mission. Both& wanted to strike a delicate balance between inclusivity, diversity, and body positivity, while also taking the lead in presenting trans and nonbinary bodies and clothing as aspirational, cool, and sexy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lirona.me
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamlirona/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamlirona
