In creating the NFT Diabolus (2022), Sarah Ortmeyer further develops her ‘EMOJI SHADOW’ series. This multidisciplinary cycle of works includes paintings, sculptures and drawings all representing characters from the Emojicon codex that she feels symbolize the essence of this new approach to script. This world is composed of hearts (COR), spiders (ARANEA), rainbows (ARCUS), and palm trees (PALMA) as well as devils (DIABOLUS) such as those in the NFT. Just like the other works in this series, the devils are monochromatic, largely black, white and silver. Ortmeyer traces the outlines of each character and through the composition of different drawings, these two-dimensional devils come to life, the smaller ones spiralling and the larger ones blinking and allowing the visible strokes of the unique silhouettes to create movement.

Sarah Ortmeyer (b. 1980, Frankfurt) is a graduate of Städelschule, Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Frankfurt. Selected exhibitions include: Kunstverein München, Munich; Belvedere2, Vienna; Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; MAK Center, Los Angeles; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Wittgenstein House, Vienna; Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; MoMA PS1, New York; Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Monnaie de Paris, Paris, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin and Swiss Institute, New York. Her work has been featured in Artforum, Frieze Magazine, Kunstforum International, The New York Times, and The New Yorker, among others.