Lana Denina's work celebrates cultural fusion, vibrant storytelling, and the transformative power of art. Born in Benin, she lived in France in her early years and now lives in Montreal. Her multicultural background has deeply shaped her artistic style. She explores identity, femininity, and emotional resilience with a surrealist style characterized by bright colors, eye-catching female characters, and the integration of global influences.
This week, Lana is bringing her latest work, (Flower Girls), to OpenSea. The series is inspired by her travel experiences, personal growth, and lifelong love of flowers, overflowing with joy, transformation, and connection. From racially ambiguous portraits blooming in petals to sets of physical coasters that closely connect the work with daily life, (Flower Girls) invites people to share positive energy in a vibrant way.
We talked to Lana about her journey from marketing to web3, the evolution of her artistic style, and the story behind (Flower Girls).
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OpenSea: I'd love to start with your journey, because I know you were born in Benin, then grew up in France and Canada?
Lana Denina: I was born in Benin, then we moved to the south of France, where I grew up until I was 10. After that, we moved to Montreal, Canada. I grew up in Canada but also inherited my multicultural traditions, which completely shaped me.
OpenSea: How do your multicultural roots shape your artistic voice?
Lana Denina: At first, when I was very young, I drew with my sister - or rather, sketched. She drew very well, she was really great. I got the motivation to draw from her, because she was my idol - you know, she was my sister.
Later, I turned artistic creation and painting into my only interest. My mother is a fashion stylist, and my father is also a great painter, so our house was always full of artwork. We also liked to travel. My father is Jewish from Algeria, but he grew up in France, so he is also French.
My mother is from Benin, their cultures are very different, yet they blend so harmoniously. I have always tried to integrate this multicultural fusion into my artwork. I want the characters I paint to be racially ambiguous - you really don't know where they are from - so that everyone can identify with them.
OpenSea: That's great, your academic background is in marketing - how did you transform from marketing to becoming a web3 artist?
Lana Denina: When I came into contact with Web3, I was still doing marketing, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, I didn't do marketing for a year and focused only on art creation, and then I went back to continue my studies, but I felt that what I was doing didn't make me happy. Whenever I created artwork, I felt very happy, I felt like I was breathing, like I had achieved something. That was when I decided to pursue art full-time, I didn't want to do anything else, I really wanted to focus on having art as my career.
Marketing is great because it taught me how to market myself, which is very important for artists. It gave me the tools, and I am grateful, but now I am going to study fine arts.
OpenSea: Oh, that's great! That will be a great experience. Your works are mainly surrealist in style, with bright colors and depict female figures. What has had the greatest influence on you to form your iconic style?
Lana Denina: Finding your voice is a difficult process. I think it's difficult for any artist to find a real style. I focused on effortlessly following the style of my paintings. That's how I knew - that's my style. They always have a specific face and pose a specific pose.
I like that they look like magazine cover people, like models, but not too much. I like that doll effect, I like them looking flawless, but I like these paintings to explore meaningful themes, I like talking about things like mental health.
My style has always been related to women - mainly about the journey of women's growth, how society wants us to look perfect, and how this affects our mental health. We don't always show the real struggles of women, we always try to show perfection without showing who they really are.
That's how I shaped my style. From an artistic point of view, my style incorporates artists from all over the world - many African artists, Asian artists, South Asian artists, French artists - too many. It's a fusion, and then I found my own style.
OpenSea: It makes perfect sense that you draw techniques from all over the world. Can you talk to us about the ideas behind the 'Flower Girls' series that will be launched on OpenSea?
Lana Denina: Yes! I was happy to take over the 'Flower Girls' project. I sketched it last year, so that was a long time ago. At that time, I was in Mexico and wanted to create some happy artwork - not too complicated, that anyone could immediately enjoy. I have a habit of drawing portraits of characters on small sticker cards.
I wanted to put them in flowers, because I did a piece before - a girl comforting herself in flowers, the piece was called (I was a clown, because I always loved you), that was after a breakup, she felt it was stupid to fall in love with someone who betrayed her, so she sought comfort in flowers - she hid herself in flowers.
I can always find comfort in looking at flowers. I have a big garden, and my mother always plants a lot of flowers there. She told me some stories - 'If you want this flower to grow beautifully, you have to talk to her,' and so on.
I've always loved flowers, so I thought, 'Let me merge the faces I paint with flowers.'
They became flower girls, and I thought: 'This is so cute.' I made coasters with it because I also like to entertain guests. People like me making merchandise for the house - I've made towels, blankets, throws, so I thought, why not do something for the table? I made samples last year and didn't touch the project for a while because I wanted to determine how to make it a reality, and then I thought of making it a large collection. I like large collections because I like a lot of people owning my artwork - not just one collector.
I like places with a lot of people, I want to convey positive energy with flowers.
OpenSea: I love this! I wanted to ask about the coasters and how you decided on them, because I saw on the drop page that you can claim a set of coasters as long as you collect four 'Flower Girls'.
Lana Denina: I think it's always special to connect physical objects with digital art. Coasters are the perfect choice - they're practical, beautiful, and a great universal gift. I like the idea of art being integrated into daily life, and I like that it can really be used and shared, so I designed them in the shape of flowers to tangibly continue the spirit of the series.
OpenSea: This is really cute. Also, in (Flower Girls), there is the concept of flowers growing and transforming, is this what this series represents - like you said your other works explore breakups, and this work explores transformation?
Lana Denina: Yes, it's about prosperity, creating beauty in sadness - appreciating the feeling of blossoming into something stronger. This is a very meaningful project for me.
That's why I wanted to make it such a big collection, to increase the positive energy.
OpenSea: You painted this series while you were in Mexico - what was the creation process like for the next style, color or features? I see some works have water droplet patterns and some have bee patterns, I really like these details.
Lana Denina: The petals are all the colors of real flowers - 25 different flowers, 25 different colors. Some petals have more details, such as bees or water droplets, and some are rarer, but they are just small decorations to make the flowers more vivid - bees, water droplets, butterflies, etc. These are additional.
I really hope everyone can enjoy happiness with the 'Flower Girls', because there are so many, I hope they can be gifts, shared with others, and I hope everyone can give them to friends. I want to spread positive energy through this project, I want it to be a happy and joyful project.
OpenSea: Aside from (Flower Girls), what else do you have planned for 2025? Any projects or exhibitions?
Lana Denina: Yes, I will have more paintings next - also to be exhibited in physical exhibitions, but I can't share too much at the moment.
OpenSea: I understand, I will continue to pay attention, because I know you can't reveal too much, how do you envision your art developing? Your works mainly explore identity, community and technology, how do you think these aspects will develop?
Lana Denina: That's a great question. I see it evolving with me because it actually reflects myself, my story, my friends, and the women I know. The wiser I get, the wiser my art gets too. I see it evolving into perhaps more mature and powerful works.
OpenSea: Before we end, is there anything else you would like to add?
Lana Denina: Yes! I want to thank the African art collective Itàn World very much, they have been helping me promote and tell the story of this series.
OpenSea: Thank you for chatting with us! I love your work and I'm really looking forward to the mint.
Lana Denina: Thank you!
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