NYC

Mixed media | Acrylic paint canvas | 2001 | 18” x 24”

I created this painting by layering thick, vibrant blocks of color with found textures and collage fragments, much like the layers of history, architecture, and culture that make up New York. I wanted the surface to feel alive—textured and imperfect—so I combined painterly brushstrokes with embedded scraps that hint at signage, street markings, and flashes of everyday life.

The warm pinks, bold greens, deep blues, and jolts of red carry the vibrancy I feel walking through the city—how the colors of billboards, bodegas, and brownstones all jostle for attention. Shapes overlap and push against one another, like neighborhoods pressing in and blending at their borders. The circular form near the top feels like a sun or a streetlight—always watching over the endless movement below.

When I work on a piece like this, I’m not trying to depict a literal map. Instead, I want to capture the sensation of being there: the noise, the pace, the pulse. This painting is as much about memory and feeling as it is about place—a collage of moments from the city that has inspired me for decades