We'Re aLl MaD hErE...

Moonflowers for Time Travelers

“Moonflowers for Time Travelers” is an 18" x 24" six color screenprint on archival Coventry Rag paper with a 1.5" border with hand deckled edges. Prints will be available in timed edition style starting Friday, February 16th at 3PM Pacific Time and ending Monday February 19th at 3PM Pacific Time. 

www.jamesreadsmerch.com

The story behind the print: “Moonflowers for Time Travelers” began back in 2013. I created a print as an homage to Van Gogh titled “Flowers for Vincent” inspired by hisSunflowers Series. It was paired with the words “I made these flowers for you, I hope they’ll do.” Van Gogh is an obvious influence in the impressionistic aspects of my work and I admired his artistic abilities during my childhood, but I began to become fascinated by his life and what little is known about him. I began researching his relationship with his brother Theodorus, and the letters they wrote to each other. This was right around the same time that I started getting into Past Life Regressions as a form of meditation, which inspired my series A Thousand Years of Life and the piece Theodorus and His Miraculous Secret, a black and white linework version of Starry Night. With past life regressions I tried to force myself into Van Gogh’s timeline, obviously it didn’t work but it did lead to other things. By 2016 I had experienced many past life regressions followed by lots of creative writing, like this:

The year is 1889 I have blue eyes and brown hair we sit around a table His hand is on my shoulder. He smiles, something rare, and leans in and tells me what he knows. The year is 1890 we stand around a hole I throw flowers down below and look up at the starry night smiling, knowing what I know. The year is 1989 I have brown eyes and brown hair I smile, something’s there. I remember what he said.

For me a skulls resemble our consciousness of our own mortality and it should remind us to always seize the day like it would be our last. Enjoy it and stop worrying.