The grinning cat is an increasingly common sight around Santa Cruz these days. It\u2019s the trademark image from Killer Acid<\/a>, a small graphic-arts company on the Westside that sells not only T-shirts and caps, but also stickers, puzzles, clocks, posters and more, all of it gloriously, unapologetically and mind-blowingly psychedelic.<\/p>\n Killer Acid has been producing and marketing its goods in Santa Cruz for five years, but recently it got a boost when the Museum of Art & History opened its new museum store<\/a> with Killer Acid merchandise prominently featured.<\/p>\n \u201cThe art is amazing,\u201d said MAH\u2019s executive director, Ginger Shulick Porcella<\/a>. \u201cWhen I first saw it, I was like, \u2018I want it all.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The artist behind the Killer Acid brand is Rob Corradetti, a native New Yorker who first arrived in Santa Cruz in 2018, and opened his business two years later. As a graphic artist with a strong grounding in underground comics and punk music, he said he was doing fine living on the East Coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut here, it kinda supercharged everything for me,\u201d he said at his shop just off Fair Avenue. \u201cIt was sorta like the universe was, like, \u2018Yeah, this is where you\u2019re meant to be.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The universe, apparently, is savvy to Santa Cruz\u2019s soft spot for psychedelia. It would be too arrogant and Cruz-centric to declare Santa Cruz ground zero for psychedelic art. But, given that it\u2019s the birthplace of the ubiquitous Screaming Blue Hand, and the home of the Hand\u2019s creator, Jim Phillips<\/a>, and Jim\u2019s equally amazing son, Jimbo Phillips<\/a> \u2014 not to mention its power to supply any number of Grateful Dead cover bands with loyal audiences \u2014 Santa Cruz has to be in that conversation.<\/p>\n In New York, working in the advertising industry, Corradetti had been a fan of Jim Phillips and Santa Cruz Skateboards<\/a> for years. But if there\u2019s a foundational influence in what kind of artist he became, he said, it might be the zany surrealism of \u201cPee-Wee\u2019s Playhouse,\u201d the cult hit kids show starring Pee-Wee Herman in the 1980s. Corradetti watched the show avidly as a kid, but later, as an adult, he got to meet artist Gary Panter, set designer for \u201cPee-Wee\u2019s Playhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was probably my biggest inspiration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Corradetti\u2019s early art leaned heavily toward a punk-ish New York aesthetic. A trippy California psychedelic vibe was to him a different planet: \u201cComing from the East Coast, California is a different lens. I\u2019ve always felt a little bit like a fish out of water.\u201d<\/p>\n Corradetti\u2019s art certainly has a flair that old-timers might recognize as akin to \u201960s-style counterculture. The vibe is playful, full of bent humor, bursting with color and celebratory of 420 culture. Not only does Killer Acid market a bucket hat<\/a> emblazoned with \u201cMushrooms Are My Friends,\u201d grinning, obviously baked mushrooms<\/a> are a recurring motif. Some of his stickers and posters are as jam-packed with comically nightmarish imagery as a Hieronymus Bosch triptych. And while many Santa Cruz psychedelics<\/a> enthusiasts approach the culture with an overly solemn sense of spiritual ritual, Killer Acid goes straight for the fun and irreverent<\/a>. It\u2019s less Ram Dass, more Timothy Leary<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Corradetti himself, however, is not so flippant about the use of psychedelic substances: \u201cPeople will say, \u2018Oh, did you draw that on acid?\u2019 Sometimes I do say yes, because it\u2019s true. But I use psychedelics pretty reverently. I use it as a creative tool.\u201d<\/p>\n The Westside headquarters of Killer Acid, right around the corner from Verve Coffee Roasters, feels a bit like Pee-Wee\u2019s Playhouse, festooned with art and packed with fun stuff. Corradetti works with six other people here. Adjacent to the office is a small retail shop with irregular hours. And the merchandising goes pretty much around the world and back, from doormats<\/a> to underwear<\/a> to Polaroid cameras<\/a>. Killer Acid is almost as creative in its merchandising as it is in its artistic imagery. And it\u2019s working. Corradetti said that Killer Acid processes \u201ca couple of thousand\u201d orders a month.<\/p>\n While Corradetti and his colleagues might take an anything-goes approach to merchandising, they are more deliberate with the art itself. \u201cWe think about it very intentionally,\u201d he said. \u201c[We\u2019ll say to each other], so what is this joke? How is this joke best served?\u201d<\/p>\n As an artist, he\u2019s constantly taking in imagery and ideas in hopes that once pushed through his idiosyncratic artistic filter, something cool will come from it. \u201cI use the David Lynch mindset of finding inspiration and ideas, of catching the big fish, and letting things marinate to come back to it later,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes I write something down, and three years later, I\u2019ll just have this moment. \u2018Oh yeah, that\u2019s what that comic was all about.\u2019 Or I\u2019ll look at an old notebook and be like, \u2018I know how to visualize that idea now,\u2019 and like it\u2019ll just pop into my head fully formed.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s not shy in admitting that cannabis and psychedelics played a role in that creativity. Even with the dramatic relaxing of the taboo against some psychoactive drugs in recent years, it\u2019s still tricky going out in the world as Killer Acid. But Corradetti isn\u2019t interested in peddling any kind of message, pro or con, about the use of such drugs \u2014 cannabis is, of course, legal in California, while some psychedelics like psilocybin have been decriminalized in Santa Cruz<\/a>.<\/p>\n The message behind Killer Acid, if it indeed even has one, might be, said Corradetti, \u201cExplore your mind if you want, or don\u2019t. Maybe just enjoy these visuals because I\u2019ve done it for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Corradetti has been drawing and doodling since he was 7 or 8, he said. He found early on that he was developing a style of his own even at a young age, though he was deeply influenced by \u201cPee-Wee\u2019s Playhouse\u201d and \u201cThe Simpsons.\u201d (He met \u201cSimpsons\u201d creator Matt Groening once, who bought some Killer Acid merch. \u201cI was like, \u2018Dude, this is making my whole life right now. Can I hug you?\u2019\u201d)<\/p>\n Another influence was his grandfather, an engineer at DuPont who also indulged a playful side, always bringing gag gifts and novelty toys to his grandchildren. \u201cYou bring these weird novelty toys to a party,\u201d Corradetti said, \u201cand after 10 times, you\u2019re like, \u2018OK, Grandpa, we get it.\u2019 But it\u2019s still kinda fun. And for me, some of that novelty has been lost.\u201d<\/p>\n As for what next for Killer Acid, Corradetti, who lives near his shop with his wife and young daughter, said he\u2019s pondering and planning on everything from animated shorts to graphic novels. On a deeper level, as an artist, he\u2019s also excited about where living in California generally and Santa Cruz in particular might lead him creatively.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia has been good to us. And reflecting that back [in my art] is important.\u00a0I feel like my vibe is here. And I\u2019m always thinking, let me try to show people how I\u2019m feeling about being here,\u201d he said. \u201cCalifornia, especially in this political climate the past couple years, has gotten a lot of grief. \u2018Everyone\u2019s moving out of California. Blah, blah blah.\u2019 But I\u2019m like, California is kind of amazing. I will defend this place vigorously.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/5145\/6213\/files\/Wavy_Wallpaper_BW.jpg?v=1738870269\")
Killer Acid in action. Kevin Painchaud \/ Lookout Santa Cruz<\/p>\nKiller Acid\u2019s cat with four eyes, coming soon to a bad dream or good trip near you. Credit: Kevin Painchaud \/ Lookout Santa Cruz<\/p>\n