In the universe of psychedelic art and cannabis culture, Mossy Giant emerges as an iconic and multifaceted figure. His work, an amalgam of hippies, bears, mushrooms and plants, is a vibrant celebration of nature and spirituality.
Mossy, a passionate defender of life in harmony with the Earth, uses his art to convey a message of love, ecology and a utopian existence. His artistic and personal journey is deeply intertwined with cannabis, hippie culture and an unbreakable commitment to sustainability.
Your art is a vibrant mix of hippies, bears, mushrooms and plants. What inspires you to combine these elements in your illustrations?
“When I draw things like that, themes like that, it makes me happy, and that’s the first motivation. The first time I drew the hippie, for example, many years ago, as soon as I drew this character, I said: ‘Wow, this does something to me at a deeper level’.
I enjoy drawing this guy with a beard, he is like a wise man and, somehow, I see myself in him, he is a reflection of me. And then, when I drew the hippie, I realised that I needed a partner, a friend, and I drew it in the car, and in the back of the car there was nothing. What can I put in the back of the car? I thought about it one night and there was the bear.
Then I put the bear in the back of the car and said: ‘Oh my God, this is what I want to draw’. And I get a sense of enjoyment every time I draw these two characters. Sometimes they disappear, but they always come back, and there are always certain points in the year when I’m bored with work, and that’s when I draw the hippie and the bear, and something good always comes out of it. And, of course, the natural world. My artistic themes are a lot about growing plants, living in harmony with mother nature, treating the soil in the right way and, ultimately, it is like a utopian world where humanity lives in perfect harmony with nature. I hope that expresses my work.
I’m not a farmer, I’m not a worker. I guess, somehow, I’m a hippie. Sometimes I wish I had been born in the 60s and 70s. That time for me is very interesting simply because people were rejecting normal life and governments and power structures. And then came the summer of love, people were experimenting with all kinds of compounds that expanded the mind, such as mushrooms, acid and cannabis. It was a very creative time, a very vibrant time.
For me it was too, that’s why in what I draw I also try to live it. I always preach about cannabis, I preach about treating the soil in the right way, and I think that, ultimately, if we live in balance and treat the soil and plants and the animal kingdom in the right way, the planet will automatically flourish and become healthy.”
Have you always made art with this theme or came afterwards? And if so, what led you to make that decision?
“Well, somehow I already responded to this, didn’t I? But if you want to add something else, art has been part of my life, of my whole life. My mother is an artist, and I and my brother were always encouraged to be creative. So when we were drawing, my mom really enjoyed it.
When I was about 12 years old, I did my education in the United States, where I studied graphic design. The hippie and the bear emerged right after college. I studied graphic design and then I became self-employed as an artist, I began to work more with images, and because of that, I got interest from the cannabis industry. I became a very good friend of Albert, Soma’s confidant, and he asked me to rebrand the Soma’s brand.”
Cannabis plays a central role in your life and work. How does cannabis use influence your creative process and the themes of your works?
“Cannabis is a fundamental part of my creative process. When I have to create new ideas, especially in the sketching phase, I like to use cannabis because it helps me find connections faster and solve problems more easily.
In the execution phase, when the work becomes more technical, I tend to consume cannabis at night, after my children are in bed and all the tasks are done. My wife and I sat on the couch to discuss the day. It really helps me. It helps me to relax and reflect on the day.
I am mainly a night smoker, at the end of the day, to reduce stress. I don’t think cannabis is a depressive as many say; it depends on the strain, it can be relaxing or energising. Cannabis works for me in both ways, relaxing, energising and right in the middle.”
In your illustrations, we see a strong presence of the hippie culture. What attracts you about this subculture and how do you think it relates to your art and message?
“The hippies were right. The bottom line is love and mutual care, taking care of the planet, building small communities. That was overcome by the American governments that were repressing the hippies because it was too free a thought. Over time, we went in a different direction, we began to go through an administrative system, then free trade and with it exponential growth and making money. Until now, on a planet where we have dying ecosystems and wars for resources and oil.
A very fucked up place, in my opinion. If we practised a little of the hippie mentality in the world, I think this place would be much better. And that’s why I express this hippie mentality through my art and try to inspire some people, that’s why I enjoy drawing these themes, because I see and romanticise everything as an artist, I have to romanticise everything and show people the world in my illustrations.
For me, it’s super positive, and I know that’s utopian, that it might not happen, but at least we can try people’s minds. And I think that cannabis and the hippie mentality are necessary in today’s world so that it can be a better place.”
Your art has a clear connection with nature. What role do ecology and the environment play in your work and in your daily life?
“Ecologie plays a major role in my work. I think it does it for everyone, but some people are simply not aware of it. We live on this planet and, ultimately, activists say that we have to save the planet, we have to say no, we don’t have to save the planet, we have to save humanity. The planet will be fine without us.
We are on a very destructive path with our planet today. But we have to understand the systems that the world has provided, for example, the way in which the soil and soil bacteria create life through composting. We just have to feed the soil with the right elements and cultivate organically instead of adding minerals and salts and more minerals and more salts and giving the plant only what they need. We need to create a holistic environment for a plant to thrive. If we do that, we create a holistic environment not only for plants, but for other aspects of our lives.
All this can be done through plants, especially with cannabis plants, treating the soil with love and care. I think the ground is the most important thing in our life. This planet thrives and, right now, the way we consume, the way we grow our food, and how we grow our medicine, is not right. I have just finished, a work called ‘Living Soil’, which is a new impression that will come out, I think, at the end of November, that basically shows the farmer and then you can appreciate all the stages of the cannabis plant. From a seed, a seedling, the vegetative state to the fully harvestable plant. Around the plants then there are worms and also fungi, mushrooms and life is being created. Everything is very nerdy in a sense.”
We have seen that you participate in several collaborations and community projects. Could you tell us about a recent collaboration that has been significant for you?
“In the last two years, I have been working on an outstanding project. It’s a collaboration with a social club in Barcelona called La Crème Gràcia, and the owner, Stefan, is a good friend who I’ve known for 10 years. Stefan asked me to portray the history of cannabis for his club. It was a dream job for me and I said, ‘ok, let’s do it’. It has taken us time so far, having finished a great piece that encompasses the history of cannabis.
Last year we really focussed on Dutch culture and on creating a book and a piece of art that portrays the history of Dutch cannabis from around 1960 to the 2000s and all the people and pioneers involved. People who put their lives at risk for these plants and through this project I have come to meet many very interesting people, the pioneers who have been part of this story and people in the industry in general. So, for me, that’s the biggest project I’m involved in right now.
I recently did a collaboration with a French grower, Monster Grower, La Chanvrière, who is a French guy living with his family on a farm. A closed-cycle farm where everything is reused. We talked about what I represent as an artist. He is a grower, he manages his soil, he is a real man of plants, he has green hands and allowed me to make the best art for him. This art is used in a product, in a harvest where the extracts have been grown correctly.
So the great history of cannabis, the collaboration with La Chanvrière and many more, allow me to live as an artist thanks to this plant and the people who believe in my work. So when Stefan asked me to do the great history of cannabis, it’s really something I would do in my free time anyway.”
What role do you think art plays in the normalisation of cannabis and in the fight against the stigma associated with its use?
“I think art plays a very big role in this and I will explain to you exactly how it works. With the ‘The Grand History of Cannabis’ project, we talk about the history of this plant, which is very turbulent, and people put their lives at risk and sometimes the issues are very delicate.
As the plant is so stigmatised, even here in the Netherlands, people say ‘oh no, marijuana is a drug, it’s bad, it’s scary’, and ‘oh no, I’ve never smoked marijuana’. It is very, very stigmatised. And what art does and what my project ‘The Grand History’ does is that everyone can observe this piece of art, whether you are a smoker or not, if you like cannabis or hate it, you can observe art and appreciate it. You say ‘oh wow, this is great, there is a lot to see, what funny characters’. But then, when you look more and spend time observing the piece of art, you could ask yourself ‘who is this person? Why is this woman portrayed?’ And that’s how the conversation begins.
What art does is create a very low barrier to give rise to a conversation that would otherwise be very difficult to engage in. If I approach you, and I tell you ‘you have to read this book and know this, this and this’, but if I tell you ‘hey, I have a great piece of art, let’s look at it’, you say ‘yes, of course, let’s look at it’. And then there could be characters there that awaken the question in your mind, like ‘who is this person? What does this mean?’. Well, this person has done this for the plant, or this is Mila, the Queen of Hashish, and you can talk about Mila, she has done incredible things. Or even Ben Dronkers, ‘who is this guy?’. Sensi Seeds, one of the largest companies in the Netherlands, creates products from industrial hemp. Then, you can go on and on. Even portraits of politicians, ‘why do these politicians have devil’s horns and why are they dark?’. Well, they made unfair laws and have helped stigmatise this plant.
Therefore, art is really a way to start a conversation, to take the conversation in the right direction and not to speak ill of people. Art is accessible to everyone because it is universal. And you don’t have to make people read 300 pages. Of course, you want people to read, but first you have to awaken their imagination, arouse their curiosity, and through this piece of art, or through art in general, it can happen that then they read more. So that’s my role to help destigmatise this cannabis plant with my art. I hope it makes sense.”
Finally, what advice would you give to young artists who want to incorporate controversial topics such as cannabis in their work? What should you take into account to be authentic and effective in your message?
“You have to believe in what you are drawing or doing, and in the topics you are portraying in your work. As I fully believe in the potential of cannabis, which can help us in all aspects of our life, for everyone, globally. I believe in that, in the core of my soul, the core of my body, and that is what I realise on paper. And if you don’t have that, it’s better that you don’t even start because, as I said, it won’t be authentic. And I think that if you stay authentic, if you stay true to yourself, then the subject you put on the paper will resonate with other people who feel the same as you. You have to be willing to dedicate time, because it takes a lot of time to succeed in art, it is difficult.
They always say that after 10 years of doing something, after 10 years you start to see the results, and it is absolutely true. Years ago, when I was just starting and reading about this type of thing, I said ‘yes, you need at least 10 years’, and I thought ‘no, that’s not true, I can do it in three’. No, 10 years is a turning point and I have noticed it. After 10 years, things really started to work. So it’s having patience, it’s creating a life for yourself that allows you to be free as an artist.
At first, when I was younger, now I am 36 years old, when I started when I was 22, I made sure that my life was easy, I had no big accounts, I had no children, no responsibility. It is important for an artist to have mental space to be creative, to experiment and find his voice. Because I didn’t start by saying ‘I’m a cannabis artist and I want to do this on the living ground’. No, I learned about this and incorporated it into my work and I found my interest and it was for me something worth expressing. I think that in 10 years, looking back at this conversation, I hope I have changed again and have another conversation. In 10 years, maybe cannabis is legal around the world and we have contributed enough. I don’t know. There is money to earn, and of course, we all have to make a living, we all need something to eat, but we have to do it together. And, fortunately, I meet many hippies in this industry, which I enjoy, modern hippies, psychedelic hillbillies. Authenticity and passion are essential for your work to resonate with others.”
