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By creating psychedelic-inspired works that defy convention, Emily Eizen, a queer multimedia artist and model, seamlessly merges cannabis and art while showcasing the beauty, freedom and diversity of the cannabis community.<\/p>\n
Eizen says her relationship with cannabis began while studying political science at George Washington University in DC. Her social justice advocacy started off strong, holding the freshman chair position for the campus LGBTQ+ organization and meeting President Barack Obama. However, she says the culture shock of moving from a beachy Los Angeles suburb to the epicenter of the political universe was \u201ca lot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With an innate creative streak, Eizen\u2019s passion for the arts defined much of her youth, offering her not only a way to express herself, but also to escape reality. When she left for college, she lost touch with that side of herself\u2014that is, until she made friends with Mary Jane.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like picking up a paintbrush again,\u201d Eizen says, describing the first time she smoked cannabis. \u201cI found a creative spark I couldn\u2019t contain; a rebirth almost.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n With that discovery, Eizen refocused her direction and moved back to California to study art full-time. Outside of her studies, she landed a job as a budtender in the legacy market, working in a few different places before finding her tribe at a West LA dispensary. There, Eizen says she first learned about the plant and its place in US history, specifically how it had been weaponized to incarcerate entire communities. \u201cIt caused me to reflect on my place in the world,\u201d Eizen says. \u201cIt\u2019s where I met and fostered a community of women and creative mentors throughout the cannabis scene.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after, the dispensary promoted Eizen to social media<\/a> manager\u2014her first job in the industry other than budtender or receptionist. Around the same time, Prop 64 passed, and California\u2019s adult-use market kicked off. Eizen\u2019s blended passion for social change, cannabis and creativity all came to the fore.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI witnessed the male-dominated environment and misogyny that dominated cannabis culture transform into the corporate version,\u201d she says. \u201cBrands I saw weren\u2019t creating diverse or artistic marketing content, let alone through the lens of a woman or a queer person. That\u2019s when I first started to create it myself. Combining cannabis and art felt so right to me, using my place in this new, emerging industry to create real positive change.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What also felt right, she says, is that through her art, Eizen showcases all the different kinds of people who use cannabis. It\u2019s a way to focus on marginalized voices and to highlight the beauty of cannabis culture as a whole. Eizen says her goal is to keep cannabis and creativity intertwined and protected from the homogenous legal market. \u201cIn my opinion, when cannabis became corporatized, the whole idea of artists and creators using cannabis for centuries was forgotten or an afterthought,\u201d she says. \u201cBy reigniting the creative spirit of cannabis culture through art, we preserve history while creating a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n Working with cannabis culture legends Cheech and Chong<\/a> \u201cfelt like total validation from the cannabis gods,\u201d Eizen says. However, she\u2019s quick to emphasize that while working with iconic celebrities is fun, her true passion lies in advocacy\u2014releasing cannabis prisoners, in particular. \u201cIt\u2019s the most enriching part of what I do,\u201d she says, reinforcing that it\u2019s not all social media glamor. Rather, she\u2019s often invested in creative partnerships with nonprofits and major cannabis companies to share the stories of those impacted by incarceration.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCorvain Cooper<\/a> was in prison for cannabis serving a life sentence until receiving clemency; Sean and Eboni Worsley, a veteran and his wife with PTSD who used cannabis medicinally and were arrested and sentenced for years,\u201d she says. \u201cThese are the stories I must amplify through my work so that more people can bring awareness and pressure their representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to advocating for those wrongfully behind bars, Eizen is also interested in keeping the passion for cannabis thriving within the industry, especially as it expands and more newcomers enter the space. While talent should always be recognized, the problem, as Eizen sees it, is a lack of passion for cannabis or knowledge of actual consumers. Her utopian future of the industry includes legalization and freedom for those wrongfully trapped behind bars. \u201cThose affected and hurt by the War on Drugs should have priority in this space,\u201d she says. \u201cI hope the cannabis industry can keep the creative spirit alive and understand the value of art, social equity and inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n For other women hoping to break into the cannabis space, Emily Eizen says any point of entry is a start\u2014whether that be as a budtender or brand ambassador. \u201cThere\u2019s opportunity for growth once you get your foot in the door,\u201d she says. But above all, she reminds women to stay true to themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFind your niche, something you\u2019re passionate about and promote yourself<\/a> in that field,\u201d she wisely advises. \u201cEven if others may not listen at first, building a consistent message will help you get a following.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Emily Eizen, Cannabis Artist<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
By creating psychedelic-inspired works that defy convention, Emily Eizen, a queer multimedia artist and model, seamlessly merges cannabis and art while showcasing the beauty, freedom and diversity of the cannabis community. Eizen says her relationship with cannabis began while studying political science at George Washington University in DC. Her socialContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":67301,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6610,50,17344,17331,85,510,4229,5429,6538,17223],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67302,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67300\/revisions\/67302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabisnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Alia-Kadir-by-Emily-Eizen-for-Miss-Grass.jpg\")
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\nRead More: Emily Eizen, Cannabis Artist<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"