Art Basel 2023

In December of 2023, Grails (Wynwood, Miami, Florida) invited me to be one of 34 artists for their "Shoe Wall." Each artist received one Nike AF1. We were allowed to unleash our creativity with these.

All proceeds collected at the time of the online auction would go to @ruckforvets.

In total, this shoe took me 30+ working hours, but it was totally worth it!

The Wynwood Wall's Shoe

Prior to moving to Miami, I was not familiar with the area nor its rich culture and food. Definitely not its art!! I was pretty naive to what all Miami entailed. My favorite place to visit (and still is) was Wynwood. As a tribute to the amazing artistry and craft that takes place in this area, my shoe was designed to highlight some of my favorite pieces/artists in the area. A diorama to show what it'd be like walking the streets of Wynwood.

Outside of Shoe

Inside of Shoe

Planning Process

To start my planning process for these shoes, I went to Wynwood and took pictures of some of my favorite art pieces. I believe I took around 200+ pictures that day. I had to narrow that down to 12.

Next, I sketched out which pieces I wanted where and had to think about what would fit where.

To really bring these shoes to life after I painted, I started working in 3D. Part of Wynwood's charm is the grunginess, the street character, etc. So I started adding the graffitied pipes, the powerlines, the trees, the abandoned building, graffitied sidewalks. Last but not least, I had to throw in the spray paint cans and flyers found throughout the area.

Thus the Wynwood Walls shoe was born.

Grails Shoebox

Part of my participation at the Shoe Wall included designing a shoe box for the shoe to rest on and rotate.