The artwork for Søren Nordström’s Deep State is meant to reflect the wordplay of the title. This kind of techno music is meant to draw the listener into a deep state of hypnosis—hence the deepening of royal purple tones from top to bottom—but it is also a meditation on the overreach of the surveillance state and the shadow government.

I chose to illustrate the concept with an imposing photograph of the ruins of the Thirteen Levels in Jinguashi, Taiwan. Much like the surveillance state it is an incredibly vast manmade construct—but it is also being reclaimed by nature. In a sense I wanted to put a hopeful spin on recent events. These things won’t last forever.

I also designed the album artwork for Søren Nordström’s debut release, Protogenesis.