ABOVE & BEYOND



The inspiriation for this latest series comes from a city that I love. It continues to be a place where many artists from around the country still flock to today. Some of my collectors have said that perhaps it might be my own personal and visual love letter to New York City. I suppose maybe that's partly true in a small way, but for me the series is much more about breaking away and chasing a dream.

After growing up in suburban Minnestota as an artist, like many before me, and many more who will continually arrive in NYC each day, we embrace the challenge of wanting to broaden our lives by moving into a bigger arena. For this series I wanted to go back and attempt to remember my feelings or first impressions upon arriving in NYC as an outsider for the first time well over twenty years ago. It's easy at first glance to be overwhelmed by the noise, and feel isolated or lonely despite being surrounded by a sea of humanity. It's much more difficult to look beyond that first glance which is what I chose to do then, and now. As I continue to seek out, explore, and experience my own sense of place, the reality becomes clear that each of us are small but very valuable individual pieces of a much larger jigsaw puzzle.