John Speaker

The psychedelic visionary artwork of John Speaker depicts the transformation of mind, body, and spirit, which John explores as he navigates through the wondrous journey of life. Today, he & Daniel talk about all kinds of fun things related to the relationship of psychedelics and creativity. Enjoy! 

QUOTES:

“My late teens/early 20’s, I was in a really dark place, suicidally depressed. A friend introduced me to acid & I gave it a shot as I didn’t have much to lose. My first time trying it I took two hits and had this crazy impulse to pick up a pen & paper & just start drawing. These alien worlds kept springing out of me & I had these crazy visions. As I continued drawing, it was like my consciousness was stuck in a hamster wheel, and all of a sudden my conscious energy seeped out of my body & into my whole brain, continuing out onto the paper and into the room I was in, the town I was in. It expanded into what I’ve come to perceive as a realization of God & the oneness of being. A very clear voice called to me and said “you’re an artist & you’re going to do this everyday for the rest of your life.” So that’s my psychedelic origin story!

“Psychedelics got me to express myself in the most wild & interesting ways. It’s like art’s not even the point. It’s about following the path of the artist & the insights you’ve had, how you learn about yourself, how to make new friends & connections.”

(Daniel): “One of the things that I hear from many people is that they’ll have a vision, they’ll get an instruction & they’ll do it for a time, until it gets hard, & then they’ll stop. And then they’ll wonder why they’re not feeling as connected anymore.”

“The origin story of how I found art, it was such a deep understanding of my path & purpose. I had wanted to kill myself, so coming accross difficulty when making art was nothing compared to the darkness that I’d already seen. Life’s going to challenge you one way or another, so why not face the discomforts in your path? You confront them, learn things about yourself, and come out the other side as this whole human being. And we get to share that process & it’s like bringing these little gifts out into the world.”

“I like being relentlessly hopeful & optimistic. Wondering ‘what is on the other side of this discomfort?’ If you’re going to be in some kind of pain or another, then why not choose the pain of a creative path?”

“I’m playing the role of an artist in this world, & artists are one component of fostering world peace & bringing that about. I strive to bring gestures of peace, conflict resolution, and unification into the world.”

“I like zooming out & seeing grand & eternal things, availing myself to that & to meeting other people who’re in that place as well. Maybe there’s a greater opportunity to share love & understanding in that way.”