More Flowerful: Emily Eizen

Few things are more flowerful than creating space for diversity and social equity in cannabis. Artist Emily Eizen knows that, and her work highlights those beliefs. “My goal is to showcase the diversity and people who have been fighting for cannabis since before it was legal or safe to do so,” says that all-around artist about her mission in cannabis.

Emily Eizen is a multimedia artist that works in painting, sculpture, photography, modeling, and home decor. Her ‘60s psychedelic inspired works showcase the beauty, freedom and diversity that Eizen considers essential to establishing equity in the cannabis space and beyond. Her intro to the industry was by working as a budtender, which opened up the doors for her to do social media and visual art. “I just noticed a lack of meaningful creative imagery in the cannabis space that showcased all the diversity and the culture of cannabis that had kind of been pushed aside by big money and greed. So I started doing social media for that dispensary and taking all these really pretty, I guess, more feminine forward cannabis images, and people really resonated with it,” Eizen says. “I started doing it for a bunch of other dispensaries and then it kind of just took off from there.”

Eizen’s road to creative freedom hasn’t come without bumps on the road. Especially in her early budtender days. ”I feel like the female budtenders are kind of on the front lines and bear most of the brunt of the sexism and objectification in the industry. Especially in those early days before corporate cannabis kind of got on the whole train of women actually contributing and deserving to be heard, not just seen. I feel like in those days they just expected you to be a prop,” Emily tells us about challenges she has faced. She continues to say “I feel like the women who are working events and just dealing with the community at large deserve to feel more safe.”

Asked her definition of “more flowerful” the multimedia artist replied “I think that “flowerful” means leaning into your feminine power and kind of just taking the divine, feminine energy of the cannabis plant and turning it into something beautiful and powerful.” On how that definition translates into her work, Eizen continues “I like to showcase the divine feminine in my artwork. That is definitely something that gives my work power in the industry, I would say.”

Emily’s “most flowerful” experiences in this industry have been a collection of moments. “My most “flowerful” moments feel like a collection of moments that I've spent with other women in the cannabis space. Especially when I first started, I was surrounded by a lot of creative women that really inspired me to pursue this as a career. And I think that those memories are what really inform my work today.”

In the future of federal legalization, Eizen hopes for more opportunities in the industry for people who don’t have millions of dollars to play with while we all wait for the government to wake up. And, obviously, she wants literally every person in prison on a nonviolent cannabis charge to be freed immediately. “There's still like 40,000 people in jail for cannabis, which is bullshit. As I'm sitting here getting my hair and makeup done, like it feels wrong. There shouldn’t be anyone in jail for cannabis. At all.”

Follow Emily on Instagram here.

Credits:

• Photography: Jessica Miller
• Agent: Dara Siegel
• Hair & Makeup: Shideh Kafei
• Wardrobe: Ashley Guerzon
• Props Stylist: Shelby Kay
• Production: Shabnam Azadeh