Nonsense Synergy

Anthony Roman

My work focuses on drug policy and law, drug policy reform, and the American epidemic of drug misuse, abuse, and miseducation. This project will be a way of providing information on this topic and aims to discuss the issue with clarity, transparency, and aims to remove ambiguity surrounding drug policy which is infantilizing adults. This is something that I have personally seen affect more than half of my family and many of my friends. I feel that art is a powerful and engaging way to communicate ideas. Visual art offers information through an immersive lens and is the perfect addition to educational information. My project, by no means, is designed to advocate for drug use and does not aim to promote drug use. Its primary function is to urge against drug use in a society where basic information on safe use is not provided. I urge the viewer to reflect on how our culture views drug use, glorifying some while demonizing and romanticizing others. It is important to understand that many are afflicted with addiction and require support, and that many adults choose to use drugs recreationally. These individuals deserve to have access to education and information on drug safety, and not to be ostracized. We are trusted to responsibly use legal intoxicants like alcohol and marijuana and safety measures are in place to help prevent destructive behavior with these substances. Why allow thousands of people to be incarcerated when we can create similar safety measures for other substances? 

The bulk of the creative process for this project is done digitally while the final display will be an analog form of a lenticular design. This piece is directly influenced by the song of a band I am collaborating with to create this piece, as part of it will later double as cover art. I drew inspiration from this band's song as it speaks to raise awareness of drug abuse and addiction. If there is deeper understanding of drug policy, we can positively impact those who struggle with addiction, those who are facing time because of victimless crimes like marijuana use and give responsibility to American citizens and prevent government infantilization of adults. 

About the Artist

I am a digital artist who uses digital art and illustration to explore themes centered around the surreal, consciousness/subconsciousness, reality/unreality, and as a way to encourage creative discourse around outlandish ideas and stigmatized topics as a means of encouraging mental and ideological plasticity. The primary tools I use in my creative practice are: Procreate and Adobe Photoshop for illustration, Text-to-Image AI like MidJourney, and 3D software like gravity sketch. In my creative practice, I aim to experiment with the formalities of art which include developing or distorting texture, depth, color, and context. I attribute all of my creative inspiration to the collective; not one or two individual artists. I am influenced by all people and artists. While sound artists and musicians are my primary source of inspiration, I see my creative process as being much like the process of collage: taking pieces and elements from my human experience and manipulating them through methods of degradation, reflection, or preservation and reiteration. Life is a remix. Although I am heavily influenced by the constant bombardment of ideas, I find solace in knowing that there is a room in my mind that only I can access. A place where some truly original ideas are stored which are waiting to be manifested in some form. Originality is scarce, and as I continue to develop my artistic process, I hope to better learn how to bring the novel and abstract ideas buried deep within my psyche to life in ways that will surprise myself and others. 

Additional Documentation