How have psychedelics impacted the way you perceive and portray art?

Psychedelics have continually provided a level of inspiration that I could only describe as supercharged spiritual fuel. The creative insights, the explosive states of ecstasy and jubilee experienced during psychedelic-inspired flow states, the unending internal visions of infinite splendor, and experiences of oceanic consciousness dissolving into the cosmos have provided a constant fountain of inspiration to draw from. One of my most profound visions occurred under the influence of LSD during my teenage years. While simultaneously peaking and drawing, a group of heavenly cherubs revealed themselves to be gathered around my drawing hand. I could physically feel their push and pull as my pencil glided across the page. Since this experience, I’ve felt that my hands were cradled by angels, which led me to believe I had a divine mission in this world to make art.

 

What inspired you to start painting? And who do you look up to in the field of art?

My mother was easily my biggest inspiration and influence when it came to art. I grew up in a creative family, and to this day, each of us has continued to explore our respective creative fields. My mother is an artist and educator, which meant my home, as a child was filled with art supplies and art books about the old masters of art and provided a safe environment to explore many different art materials and to freely experiment.

 

 

Much like various art forms, the mind is abstract. Which of your paintings would you say best represents the mind?

Each of my works was born of an unfathomable and intangible quality of experience impossible to document or decode. The mind can be many things all at the same time. Using psychedelics to explore the deep recesses of human psychology has helped inform each of my artworks and continues to reveal greater depths of symbology. As research resumes regarding these fantastic materials of self-exploration, I hope that science will reveal to the Western mind the spiritual truths many Eastern mystics have professed for millennia.

 

Which psychedelic compound would you say best describes your art?

This is a hard one. Many different psychedelic materials have expressed different aspects of my art at oftentimes serendipitous moments. As a student of synchronicity, to claim any one entheogen accurately describes what it is I do with my artwork would be doing myself a disservice… But I would have to say Acid.

Do you believe there is a spiritual responsibility attached to being an artist? How do you approach that responsibility?

There is an enormous responsibility for the artist to disseminate the divine rays of spirituality among humanity as far and wide as possible for the greater good of common people all over Earth. I believe this to be especially true as our species considers interstellar travel.

Do you feel that your art is an extension of yourself, or does it take on a life of its own once it is out in the world?

Some artists get a divine flash of inspiration, but that is rarely the case when it comes to my work, even when utilizing what I call “envisionment.”

As vivid and perceptive as I may think some of my artworks are, I’ve been somewhat cursed with a rather dull minds eye or inner imagination.

Almost everything develops externally on the page or canvas. Using the outer environment to influence and shape my work is critical in capturing the rhythm, feeling, life, and meaning that make up any piece of my art.

My unconscious also has the uncanny ability to translate the mundane shapes I see in my everyday life into something fantastic and surreal on the drawing board. For example, the pattern in the kitchen sink drain or cracks in the ceiling has been known to resurface as shapes translated as exciting new artistic compositions.

What is your relationship with color and light in your work? Do they hold symbolic meanings for you?

As an artist, the contemplation of color and light has played a major role in the symbology and meaning I infuse my work with. Having studied color theory extensively and the color schemes of many great artists, I remain a humble student of this integral aspect of art. Studying the symbolism associated with color has led me to make choices about my own compositions that I may otherwise have not. My relationship with color has continued to develop and evolve during my 20 years of making trippy art.

Artists like Alex Grey and Alisson Grey sometimes take psychedelic compounds like LSD while painting their artworks. Have you done this as well? If so, would you say it impacts how you paint and how?

Yes, very much so. Utilizing a wide array of psychedelics during the art-making process has proved to be an indispensable aspect of my creative journey. Just as technique, meaning, and symbolism are critical to any artwork of import, psychedelics add a layer of often intangible spiritual influence and meaning. I completed my 10,000 hours of creating art back in my teenage years, and a large portion of those hours were spent under the influence of psychedelics and especially cannabis. Ensuring purity, dosage, and a safe set and setting are secured, I believe psychedelics can cause a mystical experience even in non-religious or previously non-spiritual persons, which may lend insight into their fundamental relationship with humans. I believe this to be especially true when we have a psychedelic experience with loved ones.

You met Alex Grey at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. How would you describe that experience, and what did it mean to you?

I first met Alex and Allyson Grey in 2011 at CoSM back in 2011. At the time, I had very few friends around me who had as deep of an admiration for psychedelics and visionary art as I did, so I sought the people and communities that did. I traveled alone to upstate New York on a train to volunteer during Earth Day that year. At the time, I also suffered from extreme social anxiety and even experienced panic attacks at the thought of meeting new people or talking about my art. There were many friendly people I met at CoSM as I worked through my social awkwardness. At one point, I believe Allyson Grey even picked up on my introverted nature and specifically went out of her way to zoom in on me to make me feel really seen and included in the community. Admittedly, there were also moments during this visit that left me feeling alienated and like an outsider, which were probably mostly due to my own insecure projections.