Chromie Squiggle #7583
On-chain algorithm, NFT, and Ethereum blockchain, 2020
Toledo Museum of Art, Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, by exchange, 2025.18
Artist and technologist Erick Calderon, known as Snowfro, created Chromie Squiggles, a vibrant, playful series of 10,000 unique works that depict a flowing line of color gradients. All share the same visual language but are distinct from one another. Some Squiggles have rarer traits, like single-color or full-spectrum patterns or varying designs like “bold” or “slinky.” Every piece reflects Snowfro’s vision of joy and simplicity in digital art.
Chromie Squiggles introduced a process known as “long-form generative art,” in which the artist crafts an algorithm capable of producing a near-infinite number of unique outputs. Like the Autoglyph series (on view nearby), the works are generated at the moment they’re minted. Not even the artist knows exactly what each piece will look like in advance. This process requires the artist to think deeply about how the code behaves across a large number of potential outputs to ensure every possible result is both unique and visually interesting.
Artwork series
A term coined by artist Tyler Hobbs to describe a new style of generative art associated withthe blockchain. In long-form generative art, the artist typically encodes their algorithm directly onto the blockchain and the work is generated at the time of minting (the moment when it is collected). This means that neither the artist nor the collector knows what the work will look like in advance. To achieve this, the artist must fine-tune an algorithm capable of producing hundreds or thousands of iterations that are visually distinct from one another yet maintain a collective coherence and quality.
The process of creating and registering a new digital asset, such as an NFT (non-fungible token) or cryptocurrency token, on a blockchain network. It transforms digital content into a verified, tradeable item with recorded ownership, similar to how traditional mints produce physical coins or currency.