I was a little apprehensive about doing a poster for Alice in Chains mainly because of the death of their lead singer, Layne Staley of a heroin overdose and the feeling that the band wasnt “complete” anymore. But then I kind of gave myself a little peptalk and tried to imagine my 1992 self and how it would feel to know that I was going to do a poster for one of my favorite bands someday. In an early version I imagined an angel desperately trying to make it’s way to the sun (I guess to regain power or something) and saw that as a reference to Icarus and flying to close to the sun i.e. Layne Staley and how his star had burned out….but after being art directed to make it “darker” I remembered an old piece I had done during college which coincidentally had a drug theme to it of an angel slowly sinking in water…
So then I basically changed what at that time was a sun into light above water, added a bunch of ripples, and completely changed my color palette. One cool thing was that after all was said and done I remembered the lyrics to their song Down in a Hole and was struck by the eeriness of their connection to my imagery. Subliminal? Coincidence? Layne Staley posessing my brain? You decide.
Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
Id like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied