Pictures for sale @ Urban Artroom 1209!

























10 of my pictures will for an unspecified period of time be available for sale as signed  large limited edition high quality prints at a local gallery called Urban Artroom 1209. At a low cost as well. http://shop.textalk.se/se/artgrp.php?id=30937&grp=1705683

DMT

This wasn't supposed to be a drug-inspired picture, but as usual I can't really control how my pictures turn out. DMT or N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, is found in many plants and animals. Even we humans have got this compound within our brains, It is apparently released in large amounts at the moment of death, and many believe this molecule to be a sacred passage between life and death.

The plants containing this substance are common as entheogens and they are still used today to come into contact with your spiritual self and with other worlds. I really have no opinion about all of this, but since I'm going to experience the effects of DMT when I die, I can't help but get a little bit curious about why and what it would be like.


For those interested in this subject there is a lot of information out there. DMT: the Spirit Molecule is a documentary on the subject, at Erowid.org you can find out more about peoples experiences with this substance and there are books written about it as well.


From what I've heard you can also legally and free of charge try this drug in various contries, in and outside of Europe, at church-like facilities. I'm not sure if I would dare to do this though, or if I recommend anybody else to do it either.


The plant the man in fetal position is holding is called Psychotria Virdis and is used for experiences with DMT. The molecule protruding from the plant is, as you've probably guessed, a model of a DMT-molecule.

FRIEND?

I made this picture today, and haven't really had time to think very much about it. It depicts a naked young man with an erection, holding on to a chair as if inviting someone to sit, with a sunset and some hindu / buddhist signs in the background.
Well the process of creating it was really simple. I found this photo of a man with an erection holding on to a chair and thought it was interesting. So I started outlining it and when I was finished I thought: 
What now? Maybe I should put something in the backgound. Maybe I should put a sunset in the background? 
As you can see, I did this. 
Still, the picture seemed to lack something, so I put the sign for "OM" (the hindu-term for the sound that creates the world) over the sun. Then I put the hindu sun-symbol behind the sun. Yet something was still missing. 
So I tried to come up with some more exotic-looking scribble and the mantra "Om ah hum vajra guru padma siddhi hum" came to mind. It means something along the line of "let my body, speech and mind become one with my teacher." 

The questions still remains however: 
What is the meaning of this? 
Why does this young man have an erection? 
Why is he holding on to a chair? 
Why are there religious signs everywhere?

Well, if I have to, I can explain it. I promise. But if someone can like this picture without an explanation I would be much more happy. I mean, explaining a picture should never change how it is perceived or how it is interpreted. So, I'll leave it at that. If you still want an explanation however, leave a comment or e-mail me.

Here's the photo I based the picture on:




















AMANITA



Animal Collective put out a new record this week, which inspired me a great deal. One of the new songs were called "Amanita", which is the name of a mushroom (Amanita Muscaria or Amanita Pantherina) that's really common in Sweden. Children are thaught to avoid it at all costs as people think it's poisonous, and deadly at that. This is not true at all, though it is a strong deliriant with some really disturbing effects, causing hallucinations and intense changes in perception. It has been used by shamans as a tool to reach the spirit world in many cultures and has been consumed by human beings for thousands of years.
This is mainly the theme of Animal Collectives song, with a bit of fairy tale influences, but as I read about peoples experiences with the mushroom I thought that the lyrics for the track "Father Time" might actually describe the effects of this mushroom more correctly (so I'll post them below). People who eat this mushroom describe getting caught in a time-loop that's horrifying, feeling like they are trapped in hell. As time passes, though - if they do not panic - they can alter this loop to experience extreme emotional states of religious extacy and comfort. And as the loop reaches its end most people who can remember the experience afterwards (it seems to be dreamlike and fade away quickly) feel like they've discovered the meaning of life, the universe, everything.

"Open up your locket does solidarity breed from a good foundation?
Things speed out of date now you can be falling and when your up it's blown
Up with all new buildings painted they're not your
Colors and all the places you went to you don't get what they offer and hey
That's Nathan but didn't he pass a long time ago?
Where'd he go?

We exorcised the weekend now all the demons can't play but they snuck into
Thursday
Looking out for panthers from the road again but didn't they pass a long
Time ago?
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsty.com/animal-collective-father-time-lyrics.html ]
Luck it's not it's real. No it's not real
Maybe it's only real when lightning landed and hit you right where you were
Standing
Or when your imagination shows you what only time is supposed to tell you
Then I imagine time he's got real big hands and bigger plans
From a long time ago

And did I remember suitcase and all the things in my head and all the
Expectations of doing something special
I could be gone today
But where do they take me?

Luck it's not real though my feelings say it's real
Maybe it's only real when someone blinds you when they had always been so
Kind to you
Imagination won't get moldy can't wait for time to unfold me
Then I imagine time he's got real big hands and bigger plans
From a long time ago"

In Siberia Amanita Muscaria is the incarnation of a god, the god of lightning. In India it's called "Soma", the god drug. Some argue that combining weed with this mushroom is the best way to consume it.

I have not tried this mushroom myself, and would not recommend it to anyone, as the effects seem far from pleasant, but here's some links for those of you interested in learning more about it anyway:
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=68309
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_Amanitas.shtml


And here's a link to Animal Collectives new record, which you can listen to for free on their website:
http://radio.myanimalhome.net/

Here's some of the photographs I used to make this picture.
I do not own the copyrights to these pictures. 




SPACE OF LOVE

Sometimes when I make a picture and look at it afterwards, I can't really decide if it is disgusting or pretty. This is one of those pictures, and I think it reflects much of my own emotions when i try to think about love. Somewhere deep inside I guess I believe love to be the reason of existence - atleast of human existence, and since I am a human being, I would like to think of love as the reason of everything, not just my own nature. I know it sounds corny, but i guess as you grow older, you stop caring if you're corny or not.
So, what are my feelings towards love? I'm not really sure. Sometimes I feel like love is what makes everything so hard, frustrating and disgusting. Sometimes I feel like love is what makes everything easy and pleasant, and is that supreme flavour that gives meaning to all this we call life. I guess the truth is somewhere in between.

As I am quite tired right now, I may re-edit this post at a later date. Probably not. And I haven't really decieded if the picture is finnished or if it needs more work. But I guess it will have to do for now.
Peace!

AUTO EROTIC



I guess in some way this may be the happiest picture I've done so far. The guy in the picture really does look happy.

I stumbled across the photo I based it on by chance when I was searching for something else (can't remember what) and found it very appealing in a way. It's just so weird trying to figure out what's going on and at the same time as it's pretty obvious. I thought alot about changing the photo in some way to make it my own, but didn't. I just added some bugs and grass.

So what am I trying to express? I'm not really sure. The weirdness of life I guess. Because life is a really strange thing, and the world too for that matter. And if you can find some pleasure in it, I guess that's good enough, no matter how you find it.

Peace.

For Cilla

Here's a picture I made for my friend Cilla Leyni (left). It's based on a photo of me and her.

Africa, USA

I mostly did this one for decorative purposes, and I think it turned out pretty nice. Not much more to say about it actually.

Happy Eye

Another sloppy picture I made in a short amount of time, but I still like it somehow. I wanted to do something that showed how we humans are connected to eachother, but I guess I messed up. Anyways, it's atleast somewhat detailed, and the colors are kind of nice.

Sloppy Self Portrait and unnecessary facts about me



I didn't know what to do this morning so I made this self portrait. I tried to make myself look happy, with a kind of weird result.

Since I wasn't so serious about it I didn't colormanage it or anything. Maybe I should have...
Anyways, it's really lacking in composition and the general feeling of it is that it's sloppy and hastily done. This is kind of an accurate reflection of my own personality and my normal behaviour. I am a slob. But atleast I'm weirdly happy about that. And about most other things too.

By the way, the colors of the picture are actually accurate. This due to the colorful lighting in my room, which I've spent alot of time and money on to get right. I'll add a picture of my bedroom below. Note, if you will, that the big floor lamp that's kind of green in this picture actually changes between 768 different colors, and is usually set to blue or purple, and that my black light is not shown in the picture.

Untitled

I've been thinking about doing a picture like this one for some time now, and when I got started it didn't take me more than a couple of hours to finish. The result isn't exactly what I had in mind, as I wanted the shell to mutate into an old smiling man with a beard and not a screaming woman, but I guess it's close enough.

The inspiration for this picture I got partly from a dream (a really weird one!) and partly from some equally weird new age video that I watched by accident on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oSePXRbW9o). The video itself is kind of wacky until about 3 minutes into it, but I guess it's worth a look ( if you're as spaced out as I am you might even enjoy it!).

So, what am I trying to express with this screaming woman/seashell? Well, I actually wanted to make a picture that would make people smile - I wanted it to express joy and a feeling of unity with nature (or something equally cheesy), and not weirdness and agony as it does now. But sadly I still seem to be quite uncapable of doing any such thing.

As a sidenote I'd like to mention that I've become quite interseted in Throatsining lateley (especially throatsinging from Tuva), which may also have been something of an inspiration for this picture. Here are some of the songs I listened to while making it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLF7Fl4SXh8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNAKH4KdRY0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYqrWRiS204
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAd9UhhS61E
Enjoy!

Salvia Divinorum with Justin Bieber


So, finally, I'm done with the fourth picture featuring Justin Bieber on drugs. And it is a detailed and weird one at that. A really special one too, because Salvia Divinorum (or Salvorin A and B) was the substance that got me into this mess, as it was while reading on online forums about smoking salvia and listening to the song "U Smile" slowed down 800% that I got the idea of linking Justin Bieber with drugs and started on the series.  The weird thing though, is that all of my pictures are more compatible with the music of Animal Collective, even though I specifically had this song ("U Smile" slowed down 800%) in mind the entire time. But I guess that's not a bad thing, since they're my favourite band. 
Anyhow, the effects of Salvia Divinorum are described as reality melting into waves, flowing all through the environment you're in and washing into your body and mind. You will also feel like you're a part of your surroundings, that you're not like a separete induvudal anymore but one with the room you're in, the city, the country, the earth itself. Everything is a part of you and you are a part of everything. At high doses it's said that you can experience merging with the whole universe and, for a second, understand "everything" (whatever that means). It's also described as having a comicbook like effect on your vision, and some experience the world as monochrome while under the influence of this plant (this monochrome business I chose to ignore, since the picture wouldn't fit in with the others in the series if I hadn't). 

The plant itself is kind of curious. It's a feeble-looking thing that can't reproduce itself, since it's seeds are infertile, and it has to be propagated through cuttlings. It rarely flowers, and has an integrated defect that makes the leaves form black patches of dead matter all over no matter how good conditions it grows in. The only reason it's still living today is because of human cultivation; if the Mayans had not found out about it's "divine" effects when smoked and started growing it, it would have died out over a thousand years ago.

As I just finished this picture I'm not so sure about it yet. I haven't placed it among the others to see if it fits in, (I mean the colors are quite different from the other Justin-pictures), and it has some kind of elf-like fantasy quality that I'm not sure I appreciate. But I guess it is as it always is when I make pictures - I start with an idea, and then I back off and let the picture paint itself. Ultimately, this is how the picture wanted me to do it, and I guess I just have to accept that.

One noteworthy thing in the picture, and something I'm kinda proud of, is the amount of detail I put in on mr. Bibers haircut (this is only visible when viewed in the large version of the picture you can view by clicking on the picture once, then right clicking on the enlarged picture and choose "show picture").

Finally I should probably mention is the purpose of the picture (or any of the other pictures in this series), which is something that's kinda hard to explain. I did not make this to get kids into drugs or anything like that. I'm not for or against the use of hallucinogens, but I find the concept interesting. The thing I would like my pictures to promote is self exploration. If you can feel like you're one with the universe, wouldn't you like to do so? And shouldn't there be a way of feeling this without the use of any substances?
I think so. Or at least I really hope so. I believe everything is beautiful, not good or bad as we commonly put it, but more like the way you feel while reading a good book, watching a great movie or looking at a well made picture. It may horrify you, make you sad, make you happy or whatever, but that's beside the point. The point is that it actually makes you think or feel, and that's really all you have to do. That is why life is so beautiful.

Here's the song that inspired it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QspuCt1FM9M

Some interseting reading on Salvia Divinorum:
http://pearlsofwar.blogspot.com/2010/11/salvia-bardo.html
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_Salvia_divinorum.shtml

Animal Collective Again



A new fanpicture I made for the band Animal Collective. I am completely in love with this band and urge everyone who reads this to pick up one of their records (or a few of them).

I also recommend Panda Bear and Avey Tares solo records, as they've inspired me a great deal.

The style of this picture is not really in line with my other work, but I guess it's nice to do something different from time to time. I will not make alot of pictures like this though, as they don't really fit my style.

As for what this picture tries to express, I guess I wanted to  shows us humans as the weird and kinda disgusting, yet beautiful and magnificent, organisms we actually are. To experience yourself outside of yourself makes you really realize something that's utterly profound.

I really hope everyone who wants to get to know themselves will have an experience like this atleast once in their lives. Preferably with the music of Animal Collective playing somewhere in the background.

Holy Molar Failure

A picture I made for some website, but the guy who ordered it wasn't satisfied with the image, so it won't be used. I kinda like it though, and I'm not that dissappointed I couldn't sell it.

Cover for the new Fucking Werewolf Asso Vinyl

The cover of Fucking Werewolf Asso's upcoming 4-track vinyl ep. Pictures by Dennis Wedin, background and coloring by me. Be sure to get a copy!

A tattoo for a Friend of mine

A drawing for a tattoo a friend of mine wanted. Maybe not what I would have done if it was for myself, but I think it has a nice meaning. And I hope it will be something that my friend can stand for for the rest of his life.
'"Familjen" means family in swedish, and family is one of the most important things in life, so I guess it's a good picture.