SPACE MONKEY™ | RINGER TEE

SPACE MONKEY™ — FOR MY MOM

SPACE MONKEY™ is one of the most personal drawings I have ever put on clothing.

When my mom and dad were first married, my mom had a spider monkey named Sheba. She loved that monkey, and those stories stayed with her for decades.

Later, when my mom developed dementia and her short-term memory began disappearing, Sheba was still there. Mom and I were two peas in a pod, and as the dementia got worse we learned to keep things simple. If she wanted to tell me the same Sheba story again, I listened again. It did not matter how many times I had heard it. She would light up talking about that monkey, so we laughed at the stories again and let the memory be a good one.

I originally drew SPACE MONKEY™ while I was in RDU in prison. It was one of the very first drawings I made there. Looking back, I think I was missing my mom then too. The excitement in the monkey reminds me of the way her face changed when she started talking about Sheba.

The banana has another history. When I was young, my mom worked at a nursing home in Pennsylvania and I volunteered there. The fourth floor was for dementia patients. One day I got off the elevator and saw residents gathered there, waving their hands and asking for bananas. I was a kid and it scared the hell out of me. I never went back to that floor.

I could never have known that decades later dementia would become something I would know so closely because of my own mother.

Dementia can feel like someone else is driving the ship. The person you love is still there, but their mind can take them somewhere neither of you chose. I learned that correcting every forgotten detail did not help. If Mom remembered Sheba, we talked about Sheba. If she repeated a story, I listened again. If she forgot what had happened five minutes earlier, we moved forward.

Through everything dementia took from her, I am grateful that she only forgot who I was twice. She even had one of the first SPACE MONKEY shirts.

My mom passed away on May 3, 2026. I am still processing what it means to live without her.

SPACE MONKEY™ carries the monkey she loved, the excitement she never lost when that memory came back, a prison drawing made by a son missing his mom, the childhood memory of that dementia floor, and the strange road Mom and I eventually had to travel together.

Mom got dementia. Mom kept smiling. And dammit, Mom got the banana.

SPACE MONKEY™ is for my mom.

Jason Ewing | EyeJelly Streetwear™
Stay calm. Stay dangerous. Move forward always.
Museum Art Printed for the Streets.

THE ARTWORK

• Original SPACE MONKEY™ artwork by Jason Ewing
• Small front placement with full-size artwork across the back
• DTF printed for bold color, sharp detail and lasting wear

Tultex 246 Unisex Fine Jersey Ringer T-Shirt

• 4.5 oz/yd²
• 100% ring-spun USA cotton, 30 singles
• Heather Grey: 90% ring-spun cotton / 10% polyester
• Other heathers: 50% ring-spun cotton / 50% polyester
• Reactive-dyed for longer-lasting color
• Pre-washed to minimize shrinkage
• Contrast ribbed binding at neckline and sleeves
• Taped neck and shoulders
• Double-needle stitching at neck and bottom hem
• Tear-away label
• USMCA certified
• OEKO-TEX Standard 100
• Made in a SMETA-audited facility

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