Chemical X developed this series of work in recognition of a cultural zeitgeist in British history – the introduction and influence of the recreational drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), the original active ingredient in the pill named Ecstasy.

The world has recognised and celebrated the influence of lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD and known colloquially as acid, on popular culture, centred in California in the sixties. However, a similar cultural revolution occurred in the UK and music, fashion, literature, and some people, were never the same again. Despite much being written on the subject, Chemical X felt that there had been no lasting contribution from the art world.

The Ecstasy Collection does not celebrate the use of the drug nor glorifies its effects, the artist wanted to create new, totemic art that could be considered alongside the statues, memorials, paintings or iconography that are the more established ways to recognise the passing of an era.

The use of pills in most of the work represents a suspension of time, like a bullet captured en route to its destination, the history of its past and the potential of its future are held forever in a moment of contemplation. This is no longer a drug but a vessel for the memories of those who have experienced it, a warning to those who fear it and a muse on what future could be derived from it.

Each artwork addresses a different aspect of the influences and experiences that the crossing of that particular Rubicon unleashed.