Artist Dan Life Turns Nostalgia Into Art Celebrities Can’t Resist

Daniel Jacob, otherwise known professionally as Dan Life, is a contemporary artist and creator of jewel-embellished paintings, sculptures and more. His work often incorporates wearable art and unique crystal-studded designs that reflect some of his childhood passions. 

He’s gained recognition through festivals, galleries, and by establishing his artistic identity known as The Dan Life, that blends pop culture with fine art, and oftentimes, crystallized forms, to create memorable visual experiences. 

Dan recently had two immersive activations at ComplexConLas Vegas that stopped fans in their tracks as they perused the vendor area of the popular festival. 

Channeling epic '90s vibes, Dan transforms childhood obsessions, such as Pokémon, Beanie Babies, and the Chicago Bulls, into high-art statements. He mixes nostalgia with luxury, exploring Americana and consumerism through his dazzling creations. 

Since debuting his Swarovski-studded Pink Panther in 2013, Dan's intricate glue-free crystal art has caught the eyes of many publications, celebrities, and art-lovers alike. With sculptures, crystal-clad magazine covers, and natural wood-based paintings, his work blurs the line between playfulness and cultural critique—one sparkle at a time.

Dan has been celebrated by many celebrities, sports figures, and cultural icons, including Stephen Curry, Kylie Jenner, Bad Bunny, and many others.

When asked how it feels to see so many celebrities enjoying his work, Dan said, "it's kind of validating."

"It's kind of validating that I'm doing something cool or something that appeals to them, which is kind of like a stamp of approval in some sense," he told The Blast exclusively. "But then that's just a really cool moment whenever someone of that caliber ends up putting on a chain or owning a piece of my art. Anybody who buys my art or wears it, is a really cool feeling. Whether it's a celebrity or not, it's just a cherry on top."

No stranger to ComplexCon, Dan showcased two activations that grabbed the attention of festival goers. 

The first activation, a partnership with ESPN to showcase the iconic Sportscenter Top 10 Chain, had fans stopping by to see it up close. Seen on athletes around the country, this chain is amazing to see in photos but even more so in person. Fans who visited the booth at ComplexCon had the opportunity to wear it and take a photo to remember the moment and show off to friends and family. 

“Everybody just freaks out whenever somebody's putting it on, because it's a pretty cool moment, so being able to bring that to ComplexCon and allowing people to, like, essentially wear it and be an athlete themselves or be a top ten player is pretty cool,” Dan said. “And then also all the celebs that came by and put it on is always a plus.”

Adjacent to the ESPN activation, Dan debuted a collaboration with MVMT, the official timekeeper, to celebrate the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The unveiling featured a 1-of-1 MVMT x Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Cali Driver Automatic Watch valued at $35,000. This one-of-a-kind piece features different shapes of brown, yellow, gray, and white diamonds, green tsavorites, tourmalines, orange sapphires, color changing alexandrites with the bezel and face molded in solid 14K yellow gold.

“That was another really cool project. It’s cool how they both kind of came together for me, for my work, and how we were able to have two different pop-ups at ComplexCon,” Dan said. “For the watch, this was a concept that came to my attention through movement. They had a huge Call of Duty release and sold out their last one. I think it was a year or two ago.” 

Dan explained that he got to “play around with what I wanted to do with it.” He said it took more than an hour to set every stone because of the amount of detail that goes into it.

“I basically wanted to remake it in my style,” he said. “I got to handpick every single diamond downtown at the Diamond District, so it was pretty cool. I got to cherry-pick every single stone that we put in it.”

While attending a ComplexCon event isn't new for Dan, he said it's something that's "amazing." ComplexCon Las Vegas included Travis Scott as the Artistic Director and Sunday night headliner. His contributions included curating a special experience called "CactusCon," a creative extension of his Cactus Jack collective.

"You're there and you're looking at something and all of a sudden, Travis [Scott] walks by, and you're like, you know, then everybody's trampling you," Dan said. "I got trampled once, which was not the greatest, but all the kids running after him. We were talking a while ago about doing some work, so I was at his after party show at Zouk. I just messaged him, love your fit, but we gotta add some crystal to it next time, so we'll see."

A highlight for Dan from this event was "definitely the response."

"It was pretty incredible to see how many people were interacting with both of our exhibits," he said. "The two prior shows that we've done [ComplexCon], I would say like gallery experiences except they weren't really gallery-esque. We just showed all my jewelry, but we did more of a really cool experience pop-up."

Dan knew at an early age that art was his destiny. When asked if he remembers the moment he knew this was the life for him, he said he was about 5 years old.

“I realized that I wasn’t going to be a regular employee, nine-to-five, or something in finance or marketing,” he said. “I was painting, sculpting as a kid. I was all right, I gotta get back to sculpting. So I started sculpting and then putting together with Swarovski and gemstones. After the first couple sold, I realized this was the path for me. I went into it full time 11 years ago.” 

As far as where his inspiration comes from, he explained that it “comes from within first.” He also revealed that everything he creates is something he would wear or display in his own home.

“It’s something that I would want to wear myself, is how I tackle any project or something that I’d want to have displayed in my house because now I’m finding it’s very hard for me to part with anything that I make. It’s kind of like a piece of me is leaving. It’s like my soul is going with it, which is really exciting.” 

See more of Dan Life's work on his website.