Emily Eizen’s Cannabis-Fueled Creations

For Emily Eizen, cannabis, social justice, and art go hand-in-hand, and her experience as a queer woman and someone concerned about the state of the world, as well as a cannabis user, inform her art. Mixing elements of the trippy with classic, 60s-style portraits and vivid, colorful canvases, she gets creative with her work but also creates a strong message.

“I’ve been interested in art my whole life, and I’ve just been fostering my creativity ever since I was young,” the California-based artist explained. “I was going to school for political science in D.C., and I just really felt it wasn’t the creative outlet that I needed, so I moved back home to L.A. and got more into art. That’s also when I really started using cannabis, and that kind of fully opened my creativity, that part that shut off when I was doing more with political science.”

Eizen was studying political science because she wanted to get more into social justice and wanted to make a difference in the world. However, as she got more into her creative side and started taking art classes, she realized she could use her art to spread that message. She also started working at a dispensary and doing their graphic design and art, and the rest was history.

“I started doing that work and getting cannabis clients, and it just kind of grew from there,” she explained. “And I had a spiritual and creative awakening when I started using cannabis. It just kind of flowed naturally; I wanted to do cannabis art because it was just kind of natural to incorporate, and I do psychedelic, 60s- and 70s-inspired art. Cannabis and art just kind of go together and enhance the creative process naturally.”

As a woman and queer person in the industry, Eizen has experienced acceptance, but she’s also experienced being sexualized in the world of cannabis, especially by men who expect her to just be another pretty face, not an intelligent contributor to the community.

“I think once people saw how good my art was, though, and once more women started to get into the cannabis industry, that got better,” she explained. “Still, I think a lot of what is missing right now in cannabis are women and people of color, people who’ve been left out because they can’t afford licenses, or people that are incarcerated.”

Eizen’s queer identity plays quite a big role in her life as well, as her girlfriend also works in the cannabis industry. They met at the first dispensary where Eizen worked, and have been together and encouraging each other’s work in the cannabis industry ever since.

“We just help each other so much, and she’s really supportive,” Eizen explained. “I’ve really helped her with creative things, and she’s not the best with organization; I’ve helped her with that. We do a lot for each other, and it’s a great partnership.”

Follow Emily Eizen’s website or Instagram for more awesome art.

Art provided by Emily Eizen