Hail the Mariner

The ocean has always been a point of inspiration for me and my works. The deep blue is a massive, crushing abyss that should very reasonably terrify those who've gotten too comfortable on land, and that unforgiving environment of inconceivable depths is exactly what I aspire to capture.

In March of 2018 I took beginner diving lessons in preparation for an upcoming trip to the Gili Islands, hoping to explore the reefs and get closer to the wildlife. Unfortunately, my first dive out in the open waters of Gili Air revealed to me that I was in the early stages of getting sick, as my sinuses reacted poorly to the pressure and I was forced to end my trip early, but the process of actually learning to dive left a profound impact on me. It taught me simple but terrifying things about the open water; that every ten meters the weight increased by one atmosphere, that surfacing too quickly can cause the air in your blood to expand. The more I learned, the more I felt a growing respect for it. This feeling is best summed up by famous director Werner Herzog in the 1982 documentary Burden of Dreams, where he states:

"It is not that I hate it. I love it. I love it very much.
But I love it against my better judgment."

The ocean is unsympathetic to anyone or anything that hasn't evolved specifically to survive the crushing depths or the ever-changing currents, and for that I admire it dearly. Through Hail the Mariner I tell a story of descent, five songs for the five layers of the ocean from the epipelagic layer to hadal zone. The art is done by the incredible DaturaHex (@daturahex) depicting an anchor in the clutches of a thing from the depths, a symbol which I've come to somewhat adopted as my brand.