Urban Crunch

An electric, community spirit fills this abstract cityscape painting with the energy of makers, creatives, collectors, and anyone who has wandered through buzzing urban city blocks.

This piece pulled me away from the sweeping gestural brushwork and calligraphic marks I usually make and toward something more geometric and graphic.

The shift came from a constraint: one fine black line Micron marker instead of my usual arsenal of "small, bigger, biggest” mark-making tools. With only one monoline weight, the color shapes became more defined, and the whole piece took on a fun comic-book quality. Faces and atmospheres surface and then change or disappear, depending on the angle you're looking from and your state of mind.

After seven years of living in Brooklyn and moving from the industrial side of Greenpoint to the bustling streets of Bushwick, I see it as a bird's-eye view of intertwining neighborhoods and crowds of busy, colorful beings moving through them.

What do you see from where you live? Each 90° rotation introduces a new cast of characters and scenes, making it a versatile piece of interactive abstract wall art. (Watch the rotation video below.)

Spoiler alert: here's what I see. Bodegas, art galleries, music venues, parks, and subway stations, with the chaotic Myrtle Ave. "Bermuda Triangle of Brooklyn" (iykyk) in the mix. And an embedded love heart, which feels like a loving conversation between creative souls and the everyday energy in all of New York City.

I've since moved to Ridgewood, Queens, NY, so I rotated the original painting on my wall, and now I see Ridgewood's vibrant energy! Complete with the other end of Myrtle Ave. that connects Brooklyn and Queens.