When I listen to Pearl Jam and when think of Pearl Jam I am struck by the raw power and intensity of their delivery, their stage presence, their message and their unrivaled positivity. When I got the call from the band to do this poster it was just after Chinese New Year. I live very close to Chinatown here in New York and in my neighborhood there were parades and fireworks and dragons in the streets. I've been drawing and painting dragons for years. Astrologically I am a dragon. I have an obsession with the Chinese motif as well as the modern 20th Century Japanese monster movie incarnation of the dragon. For years I've wanted to do my interpretation of two intertwined dragons locked in motion together. This to me was a perfect representation of Pearl Jam's relationship to its fans. A Pearl Jam concert is very much about the bands involvement and inclusion of the audience in their music. The show itself becomes a huge participation. A joint effort. The fans sing every song along with Eddie Vedder and they do a very good job of extending the power of his voice. The whole experience of a Pearl Jam concert is this huge, powerful collaboration of energy. The dragon is a representation of pure, energy. Two dragons intertwined is an exponential magnification of this power and intensity. And when they both descend and collide into an amazing city like New York the experience is truly powerful. Even though the dragons may seem in one moment dangerous and menacing the city surges on around them, stopping to observe their awesome magnitude, unafraid of being crushed. In the next moment they will be gone.
As far as story, I’m not sure there really is one. I was right at the 16 year old stage (roughly) when I heard the TEN album. The age when music really connects and hits and I’ve always been thankful they were a big part of that for me. I’ve always been a fan. Like the images on the back of the print with the lettering between them that spells “random”, I simply wanted to let my imagination go and make something. I’m thrilled they liked it and honored to be a part of this.Also keychains are back tonight too. Some of you might know what the number means. For those that dont 1152 is the room number in the Bogata Hotel that Ed wrote Gone in. He premiered the song the next night (night two) of the Atlantic City shows in 2005.
I am honored to be working with Pearl Jam, one of my generation’s most creative, pioneering rock groups. For their Miami, South Florida appearance, I created a beautiful mermaid in a old school rock poster tattoo style, holding a “PJ” trident in one hand and a mysterious, glowing “impossible shape,” a forth dimensional triangle, to suggest the mystery of nature in the other hand. I hand screen printed this with hand-mixed gold inks, and translucent color layers, for an effect that glows. -Chuck