I found this yellow Kalurah Shriners shirt at a small store in Ithaca NY (Blue Bird Vintage) back in 2014 and knew I wanted to work with it as a canvas. Since then, each patch has been carefully curated and designed into the garment over long periods of time, and it has travelled with me through four moves and two studios.  Integrating the @kidrobot collaboration pieces (MATS and @mcbess) meant cutting up some of my favorite shirts at the time, but when the vision requires it, any objects become worthy sacrifices. 

Sustaining a move from Ithaca to NYC to North Carolina, bits and pieces were added in small sessions throughout the years. When Covid hit in March I remember feeling lucky to come back to it, finding the concept re-energized and full of potential. In adding the sleeve pattern and the fake gold chain in late April during lockdown I remember thinking to myself: “F*ck it - everything is so turned around and there are no more rules. Why the hell not?” JAILBIRD took years to finish, and was ultimately pushed into final form by the conditions of a global pandemic. It reminds us to fly while we can. 

“You can’t have the yin without the yang, my friend.”

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