Screen printed by Ben LaFond
Published by Burlesque of North America
"This art is the gatefold LP cover for Dutch doom band Ortega's 'Sacred States' album. When Richard (singer + guitarist of Ortega) told me the theme of the record, I immediately thought of the costumes of the Mardi Gras Indians. Since the record is a mystical journey, so to speak, I wanted to portray a detachment of life in all forms and have every element besides fire represented. The shells are also a nod to the farewell of the nautical themes of Ortega. To emphasize the transcendence of the shamanistic journey, I morphed the feathers into sound saves / optical art.
This piece has proven to be groundbreaking for me, the trust and freedom I got from the band let me to discover a more personal style, concept, one that led to a whole new world of ideas." -- Marald
