Part of the artist's epic mixed-media project "Crackle & Drag," Ericsson's Cocktail Paintings throw alcohol, time, people, places, fortunes and misfortunes into the mix. Complex to prepare, sloppy to make, they’re equal parts hope, hopelessness, romance and despair with references to the good, the golden and the hidden costs of an empty bottle. The work is a literal cocktail of ingredients, powdered paint pigments and a polymer resin combined with various straight or mixed drinks. The drinks relate to the images in time or by the obscure memories the image or the cocktails trigger. The source images are amateur snapshots held onto or inherited over a period of many years, they’re taken by friends or family from as far back as the 1930s and into the 2000s. This particular painting is made with Grey Goose Vodka.