Step into a world full of ‘SECRETS’, mysticism, magic, and deeply spiritual conquest with the equally mysterious to illustrious anonymous artist known as Sleepr. ‘SECRETS’ is a collection of 12 large scale artworks that send the viewer into uncharted realms that traverse between illusion, dreamscape, or perhaps something even more enchanted. These captivating, large scale artworks will be on display from May 24-30 in SOHO, London presented by Scene Spaces and the Solana Foundation.
Join us as Sleepr invites audiences for the first time to be lured down a rabbit hole of internal contemplation and expansive universal exploration with ‘SECRETS’.
‘THE ORIGIN’
Much like the most powerful of ‘Spirit Plants’ to begin to understand Sleepr and their artworks deeper, the story begins deep with the roots. Sleepr’s relationship with mind expanding substances began to come to fruition at an early and formative age. “I grew up in an interesting part of Australia where pure DMT was available freely. The national flower is the Acacia tree which grows wild and is abundant in DMT so there was always some form of it hanging around at parties, head shops, the local Wizard.” They recall the first time they ingested the substance, “I remember smoking some changa (DMT mixed with herbs like lotus flower) as a 15 year old kid and thinking “Wow! What on Earth is that!”.
It opened up literal portals to these strange and far-out spaces that had spirits, geometric structures, trinkets, rainbow snakes, tunnels of eyes and endlessly more things.” After the experience they found himself attempting to draw the things they had seen and experienced. Sleepr fondly remembers this “journey” being both incredibly simple yet complex. “I forget how strange it probably sounds to people encountering this type of thing the first time,” they continues, “but 20 years later it’s still the most significant thing in my life that I focus on daily.”
From that young age, Sleepr’s conquest to understand, comprehend, and retell these fantastical journeys became the thesis and core of his life's work. Sleepr’s great journey would lead him down an academic path where his work is all about documenting the complex and visionary world of psychedelics through art. Due to his high level research and the nature of it Sleepr embraces the power of anonymity, “I’m an anonymous artist who has released work under the pseudonym Sleepr. People often perceive anonymity as a form of sketchy behavior, as it conceals the truth which in turn reduces authenticity, but actually the opposite is true for me”. He elaborates further, “I studied a PhD on DMT hallucinations for a few years and have completed high level research, yet it’s still such a risky topic due to the illegality and professional taboos that come with it that it’s actually easier to be truthful behind a mask than in front of it.”
As a rebel to both institutional science Sleepr deeply believes that psychedelic states expose humanity to forms of real and tangible magic, one that psychonauts, those who dedicate time to exploring and explaining altered states of consciousness, are early to understanding that. Opening that long thought to be forbidden door for others and exposing the beauty of these realms is exactly what Sleepr hopes that his art will do long into time. “I hope that the mission of Sleepr inspires other artists to question what limiting beliefs that are inherent to what artists can do and contribute to wider society.” He continues on passionately, “often artists are told that we don’t contribute anything other than decorative crafts that the rich enjoy. Well I disagree, and believe that artists can contribute really, really important things that no one else, or no other tools can do.”
Sleepr believes that NFTs have been the most important technology to emerge for the creative since the inception of the computer and has wholeheartedly embraced the technology. “It’s because it’s fused together the social layer of independent funding of artists, with the incentive for collectors to receive artifacts that have worth, and not simply donate to artists,” he implores. “It’s been a perfect melting pot for highly innovative and explorative risks in the creative industries to emerge out of.” He thinks that one of the most exciting prospects is the many new, young art collectors who are becoming interested in art again. “It is so important for us as a species, it’s the literal tip of the spear for innovation, experimentation and imagination, and it fuels so many other aspects of our world.”
In addition to their many achievements during their 15 year academic career Sleepr has amassed an enthralled collector and fan base across the globe who connect with the artists captivating depictions of these seldom seen worlds. With their work sold at Sotheby’s, an artist in residence at Art Basel Miami 2023, and digital works sold on-chain across many prestigious marketplaces, Sleepr has established a unique lane for sharing their important mission. “The artists of tomorrow will be explorers of the unknown who are smuggling back secrets from the other side,” they proudly declare.
‘SECRETS’
SECRETS is a 12 part visual journey, Sleepr’s most intricate and involved artworks to date. “It’s trying to capture how widespread these secret hidden worlds are that the visions reveal,” they explain. ”They are present all throughout culture, in all different time periods from ancient to modern times, in different locations from suburbia to the jungle, and are present from the outside looking in with more realism, and then from the point-of-view of someone inside the visionary world where the forms appear more abstracted.” SECRETS is what the artist considers the most complete coverage they have managed to accomplish on the breadth of this incredibly rich topic. They consider these works clearer, crisper, and more pinpoint to the ideas represented versus Sleepr’s more abstract leaning work.
The intricate works of SECRETS is the culmination of a lifetime of work for the artist, as well as an artistic unlock of sorts, combining field notes collected and visual knowledge acquired from sacred realms. “All my work starts with visions. Sleepr begins to explain the process deeper. “I take heroic doses only and I have diaries and diaries of trip reports I’ve encountered over the past 20 years. Hundreds of shamanic experiences that I’ve lived through, thousands of hours of being neck deep in voodoo.” These journeys involve studying the visions they encounter through often intense experiences. “I notice details - how they replicate, how portals emerge from out of the patterns, how the snake writhes in the air, how I can see through my hands into my skin and into my spirit body, how I rise and levitate. I’m learning for months and months”, Sleepr implores, “and then I start making art.” Smuggling back secrets from the unknown.
Sleepr’s mission which is carried through this body of work is to continue to blur the lines between science, math, art, and of course this true brand of ‘real magic’ that they believe in so. In speaking with the artist, you are all but ready to abandon spoken or written language in favor of utilizing their performed method of visual communication. “The quantum physicists and mathematicians all describe higher dimensional geometry and then bluff out like none of us can see - well, we damn well can!” They say with exuberance. “I’m calling bluff on the authority that “science” has had over our culture, and the disregard for the datasets individuals navigating the labyrinth of mind have brought back - i.e the arts.”
Prior to any artwork being seen from the SECRETS collection close to $100,000 USD was sold, a feat that caught the artist by surprise. “That's such a positive sign of a healthy appetite from collectors for innovative artists,” they mention. “These are collectors who have been patiently watching emerging talent and their steady increase in sales, quality and craftsmanship over the past few years.” Sleepr believes that blue-chip artists and premium brands are really leading these cultural and underground movements. “They are rejecting traditional ideas about what the arts represent. It's such an exciting time for all involved.”
In addition to the expansive digital body of artworks, SECRETS will be presented in a top-tier manner with a solo exhibition in SoHo, London. Opening night festivities complete with 6ft wide framed printed works, multi level gallery, installations, performance artists, actors, dancers, a string quartet, ringleaders, catalogs with essays, critics, poems, and more. Sleepr wants the works to be a true celebration of being a human, about going further than we’ve ever gone before, and so believes they should be seen in celebration of being a human. “They're conquests, but also delicate, and there’s no ego attached to the name due to the anonymity of the artist. The whole show is dedicated to a plant! It’s all about honoring the plant, which is really just the key to unlock this hidden door none of us knew was there, that enables us to see into this other dimension.” With the gap closing month on month between the traditional and NFT art worlds Sleepr hopes that this exhibition with play a role in opening those doors for the Solana community. “The traditional art world is very blurry, and has historically constantly been disrupted over what the wider society deems to be of artistic value and of importance,” they mention.
Open doors to hidden worlds, primal mysticism, and real magic with ‘SECRETS’ by Sleepr. Complete with a solo exhibition in London, this captivating collection will leave you contemplating worlds within your own and embracing the expansiveness of consciousness. The SECRETS exhibition will be open to the public from May 25 - 30, with the opening exhibition beginning on Friday the 24th of May.
View Sleepr’s SECRETS collection here.
