Every collection I make has a goal, inspiration, and creative purpose.
If you have not heard the 420 Collection is launching August 1st! Since that is SO SOON, I wanted to take some time to talk about the inspiration of the collection, why I made it, and what my creative goals were for all of the broccoli inspired art.
The Inspiration!
I am going to start this bit off by saying none of the things I am hinting towards in this post are illegal in anyway, shape or form, I'm in Canada, and here cannabis has been legal nation-wide since October 2018.
That out of the way, let's talk inspirations!
There were a few inspirations in this collection but most of them stem from my partner's (Skylar) work in the Cannabis industry and our joint (see what I did there :P) love of bud.
Going from homegrown or sharing with pals to the experience of a Pot Shop was WILD. I felt like my entire understanding of, knowledge about, and culture surrounding cannabis just totally opened up.
With Skylar working in the industry I felt like I was exposed to such a diverse and rich culture surrounding weed and weed history. Gone was the shady street meetings, and the vision of what I thought a "stoner" was and here was the reality- weed is for everyone- literally everyone, from every walk of life.
So I thought a lot about canna culture, the media portrayals, the style of gear, the history in Canada, the vibe I get from the industry, and ruminated on what weed culture looks like for me- a softie who occasionally enjoys a good vibe.
And the idea was born.
Why I made this collection
I made this collection really for two reasons; to talk about weed, and to show a softer side to cannabis.
1. Talking Pot: Cannabis while legal in Canada and a booming industry still has a huge issue with stigma and amnesty.
While cannabis has been legal for some time people still view it as illicit and shady. Part of this is in the way it has been rolled out by the government. In Ontario cannabis is supposed to be on par with the liquor industry; though it is not treated the same.
While you can have ads for liquor, have discount deals surrounding liquor, unlimited carry and purchase options, free samples in stores, liquor shops with clear windows and displays for the public: the same is not at all true with Cannabis. Institutionally there is a stigma created with the selling and buying of weed and pretty intense rules surrounding this.
In addition to the rules; the laws still are way behind in treatment of individuals with previous cannabis convictions.
One of my favourite organizations that I learned about through Skylar's work is Cannabis Amnesty. This is a Canadian organization that works to educate and enact policy changes and reform to best support and reduce barriers of those who have previous cannabis convictions.
While I have never faced an issue with Cannabis (likely because I am white and femme presenting) I learned that there are over 500k Canadians with cannabis records, of those, only 536 have received pardons. Further, of those who have convictions, rates of Indigenous Peoples with convictions are 9x higher than any other group of peoples (Source).
Not only is it a stigma issue, the issue surrounding legalization is rooted in deep racial, institutional, and systemic problems. So yeah, I think it is important to talk about it!
2. Spring boarding from institutional and systemic issues I also wanted to build a space for a person like me in Cannabis.
The weed industry is very much a cis man dominated space. A lot of the gear, stickers, art, just has a really hard masculine vibe- and I am everything but this. So the second reason for the collection was to be able to produce some art, stickers, and notebooks that catered to a non-men (and soft men) demographic.
And so I did the thing!
The Creative Goals
Every collection I work on has a set of creative goals- things I want to try to push my artistic boundaries a little bit. The first horror collection was a play with multimedium, the queer collection was a test of using colour, the 420 collection is all about design and digital arts.
I love embroidery so so much, but I felt as though there was a design/drawing element that I needed to work on to flush out my pieces/bring them to life. So, to help with that I decided to focus this time around on an mostly drawn/digital art based collection.
I am SO glad I did because BOY HAVE I GROWN.
I am incredibly proud of how far i've come and am excited to see where my art journey leads me.
Here we are!
So that's that my friends; Skylar, cannabis and the system, a soft stoner, and some digital art.
That is the scoop on the 420 collection! If you have more questions as always, drop a comment or my DMS, emails, socials are open.
Stay weird and wonderful,
~Kass