City On Fire: Blood of the Wolf
Written by JIVA @Theconfidentline
@Avionwolf_ Shot for their upcoming Tape "MOGLI".
"I never understood why people want to limit themselves" - Avion Wolf on rituals, world-building, and the art of burning bridges
I'm rapping about life and art with my best friend and frequent collaborator, Kree, aka Avion Wolf--a truly one-of-one musician, fashion designer, and artist, the founder of the All Eternals collective and creative director for House of Kree. Life with Avion reminds me regularly, if subtly, that rituals are imperative for grounding us in the present even as they hold space for our perception of time's passage. We're relaxing late on a Sunday morning as the daily ceremony begins… steps rarely rushed, scarcely deviated from… split, scrape, moisten, crumble, grind, pour, tamp, dab, smear, roll, lick, wrap, seal, poke, cure, spark, inhale.
"Nobody would teach me (how to roll a blunt)," Avion reminisces. "They kept it, like a gatekeeper. So, I just watched and learned, and then incorporated my own style into it." When it comes to adopting and passing down rituals, this idea of adding personal flavor persists. "The basis is culture; culture comes first and then each individual or household has their own way of expressing that culture. This is my way of connecting with myself, opening doors for myself to receive, or putting myself in a mode to receive…it definitely opens me up. I don't like to talk to people at all. Which is why I have the two blunt limit. And I can smoke and talk, but as soon as I'm done smoking, I gotta go."
Avion hasn't always been so reserved around others but admits to now being super discerning. "It takes a lot to get past even the first wall… People like to claim the whole family thing so much, but they're ready to get rid of you as soon as you do anything that's outside the general way of doing things. I care so much about my work that if I'm working with you, I have to vibe with you completely. Like, it has to be an actual friendship, an actual bond between us. " One of the key parts of that bond is the readiness and willingness to stand up for each other in the face of harassment and bigotry. "You never know until you're in that situation, and when you are, most people do not protect you. Most people stay quiet. Most people look away. Most people don't do nothing at all… Sometimes you gotta not [react] in order to see if someone else would for you. Are they waiting to see how you respond or are we naturally flowing together?"
Finding that alignment while trying to collaborate with other artists, establish a collective, and grow a community can be challenging when everyone has their own agendas and motivations. "It's surprising sometimes the people that do step up and the people that don't," Avion muses, crediting that difference to "realness mixed with ambition…They have their own dream, so they understand how other people can chase theirs." The discernment comes in figuring out which people are compassionate or empathetic enough, or at least aware enough to recognize that other people's dreams don't have to take the place of their dreams, and it doesn't have to be a competition all the time. "The collaboration, the collective should be everybody pushing each other forward, or taking a step back when you need to so someone else can get some spotlight. Helping them in different ways, not always putting your name on credits."
We talk about adding that element of discernment into community building, and how keeping the bigger vision in mind makes it feel more like world-building. "We're not trying to buy houses, we tryna build em; we're trying to build a neighborhood, a society built on actual community. Help relieve people of the created stress and anxiety this current world put on us. Starting with land & a real foundation. We're trying to get out of this bullshit world that pdfs created. We HAVE to create another world." This world-building expands across art forms to become an immersive experience that reinforces the possibilities of a new shared reality. "First, I want to get people used to the sound of All Eternals as a collective, being of a higher state of mind, thinking about the future, about each other, and how we can push that mindset forward. The next phase is establishing the actual community itself, what it is, where it is, and how we're going to actually start building Eternia in a physical and not physical sense. We are gathering people , building up our numbers bringing change to those who need it most, we can enact real change. This is the focus of what I'm doing through my solo career and through the collective."
Avion grew up in New York, in the birthplace of legends like Wu Tang, Jay-Z, Biggie, and Nas, but was increasingly exposed to alternative and underground artists like Hopsin, Tech N9ne, Skrilla, Scarface, Veeze, Lucki… "Music connects people beyond language, beyond introductions, stereotypes and learnt behavior. [Good music] can breakdown peoples walls, if you listen to enough music with somebody, there's something you'll connect to." Music was the cornerstone of All Eternals at its inception in 2021, starting out with 5-6 musicians and expanding to 10+ later on, as its scope evolved. "It became an art collective, period, for anybody that does any type of art that wants to be within a group that is able to push each other further than just doing it by yourself. The collective having so many artists, it's like each artist is a peek into a different doors that opens to same world (Eternia) that we each contribute to building together." These cross-functional artists have found good synergy with each other, frequently collaborating on tracks, videos, blogs, zines. As well as producing multi-faceted events like fashion shows, and live performances together. Avion is quick to make clear that All Eternals is not a band itself, however (bands are welcome within the collective). "We have no control over any other artists. Everyone is here as a solo artist/act, so we can push you and push us all together not as a group but as a collective of different artists. People have obviously fell out of the collective, which is sad, but that's how you find the people that are supposed to stay and meant to be apart of it all…Even Wu Tang broke up eventually. I'm trying to make this shit last, not trying to break up. It takes a collective to win."
Parting ways with the collective isn't necessarily the end of collaboration. "I'm always open to them returning. The hope is that you would go out explore more, live life and bring that spark back, bringing people back to potentially help the community grow. If you're gone for good, that is okay as well. But it really depends on if you are leaving in a respectful manner, or just, completely ghosting people who needed help or fucking off people who are helping, stealing, hurting others things like that…" Respect and consideration for one another remains a core tenet of the collective and the community as a whole, but keeping it growing and healthy isn't always easy or comfortable. "100% good vibes all the time is not a real emotion. All of us, me included, get uncomfortable having difficult conversations. But that's where you get the chance to connect deeper. Help each other through those emotions & experiences. That’s where real community is built. That's where you find people that will defend you." Navigating communication, including tough talks, is essential for keeping All Eternals collaborators on the same page.
Fashion came into the mix as a serious part of the collective early 2025, with the brand WöLF, the one-of-one designs, collaborative fashion shows/pop-up shops starting the following year. "I was done doing regular merch print to press bullshit t-shirts. I wanted to make things that are actually cool and affordable and that you can get right now." Recent groundswell of support for unique upcycled and reworked clothing keeps validating this direction, and aligns to the collective's shared vision of sustainable, wearable art that inspires radical self-expression through deconstruction and reconstruction. "I think conformity is... so bizarre. It's such a strange thing, and it feels like that was such a driving force for generations that came before us. To fit in, to wear the same clothes in school & out. “Don't be too out”. “Don't be too loud.” Why? Individually is cool as hell. You bringing life to the world & those watching. Inspiring others to refuse being silenced.”
Avion's design sense is evolving as well. "I get ideas quicker. I'm getting them made quicker, and I'm able to focus on the actual full fit now a lot of times. I'm able to put full ideas together and then bring them into the fold of the world, really." The fashion becomes another entry point to the living and breathing world of Eternia, and it grows organically as more people connect with the designers, the pieces, and the brands. With the past year's focus on runway shows, performances and connecting with local community, brand recognition and demand is on the rise. "It starts small, then it steamrolls," Avion notes when recounting the challenge of barely having some pieces long enough to take pictures of them before they're sold. "That kind of demand is a very good thing, which is why you got to put 'em out faster. That way you can have some to show as part of your collection, and some to sell."
Presenting designs as part of a collection is a key part of building the world's aesthetic and extending the narrative. The latest collection, Blood in the Sands, is a collaboration with Jiva (BananaStyle) inspired by Dune, Game of Thrones, desert sands royalty, but make it punk. "Actually, some crazy pieces, some of the best pieces that we've made so far." Avion's favorites include an elaborate Sand Skirt featuring upcycled denim, vintage kimono silk, and custom chains, and a deliciously comfortable strap-adorned dress inspired by a headless horse. "It is curve friendly. That's what I'm getting down on, the curves, bigger sizes, XXLs. I'm getting all y'all big & sexy! I like playing with different materials, too, and seeing how things flow together."
So how will we know Seattle takes Kree seriously as a designer? The increasing attention seems to point that way. "The fact that people take pictures of me that I don't know, or ask me for pictures, or ask when my next show is… People stop me a lot now for my outfits. People wear my outfits on stage to perform. It's been crazy to see people recognize me." But Avion doesn't put expectations on external validation. But more so leans towards a; me vs me mindset. "Yeah, nobody gonna believe in me more than me. So people are going to catch on when they catch on. They usually do when you get yourself to a higher position."
A powerful way to elevate yourself is to cut dead weight, keeping with the deconstruct/reconstruct approach. This time of year, especially with celestial events like the Pisces blood moon, feels more intensely centered on letting go of what no longer serves growth so we can move forward with intention and clarity. How has this seasonal transition manifested for Avion and House of Kree? "I got rid of a whole lot of people in my life. People that I loved, but they don't support me. They don't love me back the way I need to be loved. So I got rid of everyone and refocused on what I want to create, the key people I want in my life, and things I want to actually do with people that can keep up with me." Admittedly, that's still a hard cut, especially when it's family and close friends. "Most of it was family, actually. Then a couple people I grew up with. But, It's a clear path. I heavily believe in burning bridges, & standing on it everytime, I'm happier for it. These people can't hit me up. Nobody's bringing situations to me. Nobody's asking me for money every day. Nobody's dependent on me and my dreams to do what the fuck they want to do in their life. I'm done with people living through me."
Avion likens throwing your energy into places where it is not appreciated to drinking from a cup with holes in it. "I refuse to let unhealthy patterns continue through me, so I got rid of people in my life that do. I got rid of people that don't take family serious. I got rid of people that don't take their businesses or their friendships serious, are not actual friends but distant associates, all gotta go. If you're not both feet in my life, you gotta go. You cannot support me, you gotta go."
Evolving also means turning that lens further inward and allowing space and grace for the death of old selves, for saying farewell to past versions of self that relied on toxic, albeit familiar, patterns to make way for new areas of discovery and expression. "I have an ego death/spirit death every fucking year around this time. Which I guess makes sense, it's birth month." For Avion, this spiritual shedding has a profound impact on songwriting. "Topic-wise, just getting out of the glorifying of things I used to do and back to talking about my real feelings and my life, shit I gotta deal with, shit I gotta go through, heal from, help others quit, whatever. I can't be heavy on Xans like I used to be. I'm trying to build something real. I need to focus."
Still, processing past traumas and experiences through music can mean revisiting that dead self and reliving those memories, a process that can have emotional fallout. "I gotta capture shit in the moment when I'm feeling it. And often I got to immerse myself into things that I know will invoke those feelings," Avion says, but it also means being aware of and taking care of the mental and emotional state being invoked. "I had to figure out how to keep myself sane and HERE, here and now. I can talk about the past because I'm always here right now, never back there, no more." What helps with staying grounded in the present? "Art, rituals… and some pretty good songs, too."
In this new season of growth and rebirth, Avion plans to keep honing their performance chops. "I gotta get the crowd going at every show more consistently, and keep getting better at knowing what to do while I'm on stage, making use of the space I have, my vocals through the mic, and my stage presence." Musically, we may see more exploration of other formats like incorporating more jazz or metal beats. And more music is definitely in the works. "Albums are part of my world-building. Channel Redd is the late night smooth, sensual record, sometimes getting a little hype with the more house songs. Like a Mars version of a red light district. And Mogli is gonna be my real, natural, completely unguarded spirit. Jungle Boy, real raw primal energy." On the fashion front, the big news is the recent launch of Venus of Eternia, a boutique storefront for All Eternals x BananaStyle in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood. "We have a physical location now, so you can come buy our clothes in person. You can get it shipped to you, or we can deliver it to you (locally). If you want some cool one-of-one fashion from people in your city, come support your local artists, we got you. Bring in clothes that you already have, we're all about upcycling, saving the earth, and swagging the fuck out at the same time."
Thank you for reading
Follow @venusofeternia for updates on our latest collections, commissions, store hours, runway shows, and more.
follow the artist journey here @Eternal.Kree
Follow the writer here @theconfidentline
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