Ghosts of California is a one-of-a-kind pair of hand painted Carhartt overalls created by Fly Art Atelier, transformed into a wearable narrative object through painting, wax treatment, textile layering, and reconstruction.
 
The front side of the composition is dedicated to the era of the Central Pacific Railroad and the construction of the American railway system across California. Painted scenes, workers, faded lettering, and traces of industrial labor create the atmosphere of an old railroad archive shaped by dust, machinery, and human hands.
 
The reverse side of the garment turns toward the mythology of the California Gold Rush. Here the imagery becomes quieter and more ghostlike: wandering figures, horses, forgotten camps, distant landscapes, and fragments of handwritten memories appearing through the worn canvas surface.
 
Rather than functioning as direct illustration, the imagery behaves like surviving fragments recovered from old trunks, letters, and railway records. Wax treatment, distressed surfaces, visible repairs, and layered textiles allow the object to exist somewhere between painting, artifact, and workwear relic.
 
Striped fabrics, repaired sections, and vintage textile fragments are integrated throughout the garment using hand stitching and reconstruction techniques developed within the Fly Art Atelier practice.
 
No duplication.
No repetition.
 
Each object evolves directly on the garment, guided by texture, wear, and structure.
 
This is not customization.
This is transformation.
 
One-of-a-kind piece.
Created at Fly Art Atelier.
 
Fly Art Atelier
made with love
in California
 
Fly Art Atelier is part of the broader artistic practice of Vladimir Mukhin, a painter and object artist working in California.
 
More works and paintings by Vladimir Mukhin:
www.muhinart.com