Introducing the Artist: Mugwort

Mugwort is a brand new custom brand from digital artist and designer Isaac Mills. His distinctive style provides inspiring visuals centered around spiritual exploration. His art has been displayed at galleries and festivals all across Canada, the US, Europe and Australia. With the help of RageOn, he's now officially launched a brand new all-over-print store where you can find his captivating paintings on high-quality all-over-prints! Shop through his entire collection @ Mugwort.RageOn.com and check out the interview below to learn more about the man behind this creative new line. 

Where did the name Mugwort come from?

In my early twenties I started screen-printing shirts at a community art collective on the east coast of Canada, and I needed a name for the little label I was working on making. At that time I was avidly exploring lucid dreaming, and I discovered mugwort, a herb that has many incredible properties, including the enhancement of dream-recollection.  I liked the sound of it, so I stuck with it. I learned more and more over time what a powerful plant it is, being used by indigenous groups in shamanic and healing practices all across the world for thousands and thousands of years. I had some really powerful dreams about it, involving ancestors and plant spirits giving me permission to use the name.

What do you want people to take away from your art?

Its my hope that my art can in some way bestow its viewers with a sense of wonder and potential, and leave them with a feeling of inspiration and upliftment. Its can be hard to put into words the sensations you get from looking at a piece of art you really love, but when it speaks to you, it can be really powerful.

Where in life do you find the most inspiration?

I've learned that the most inspiration for me personally comes from having a balanced lifestyle where the body spirit and mind can all thrive, and all aspects of what makes me feel activated are being nourished. Its something I neglected earlier in my career as an independent artist and have come to realize is so crucial to being inspired and effective in whatever you are doing. Being in nature, being part of a community, having deep, loving connections, and having time and space to appreciate life in all its myriad expressions are all things that help to deepen my sense of purpose, and make me feel motivated to grow as an artist.

Tell us about your relationship with the animals featured in your paintings.

Since childhood I've been obsessed with animals. I've learned so much through relating to them throughout my life, and I think our relationship with them is really important to the collective consciousness of humanity. They are beautiful expressions of the infinite potential of nature, and regardless of their plentitude of cultural and mythological associations (which can be deeply insightful and provocative), they are deeply meaningful to us in a subconscious, evolutionary way. Often when I start working on a new animal piece, I end up researching and learning throughout the process of what that animal represents in different indigenous epistemologies, and often feel impacted by the personal relevance of these ancestral stories.

Which design from the new brand is your favorite?

I would have to say the piece 'Sky Diamonds' is my favorite. It is meant to be a visual representation of revelatory states of conscious, in which one can experience a direct and immediate connection with their infinite nature, and embody a state of limitless awe at the beauty of it all.