Look Elsewhere, Orlando. 6/11/2014

Look Elsewhere, Orlando.
36x44"
Acrylic on canvas.

Inspired by the sudden and somewhat mysterious death of a friend, Look Elsewhere, Orlando is a portrait of those lost addressing or confronting that from which they are attempting to overcome.

The title speaks to the attempt to escape that issue through a change of location, ultimately realizing that the issue, not the place, is the problem. Symbolized by the Lion, the subject gazes backward, finding the "issue" driving them forward. In a state of shock, the subject realizes that "issue" continuing to follow, despite them having turned their back before. This is not meant to display someone running away...to show a weak or strong character...but to acknowledge the constant presence of our vices, despite our best efforts.

Rather than laying blame, showing anger, hoping to change the future or denying the current state, the piece memorializes a vision of the person lost simply living alongside that which drove them, for better or worse.

L.E.O. is not a piece celebrating life, damning vices nor glossing over reality, it simply shows the state of things.

El Dorado. 2/7/2016

El Dorado.44x54"
Mixed media on canvas.

Despite more technology at our fingertips, more information at our disposal, more options for what to do with our future, and more ability to move from place to place than every before in the history of humanity, many find ourselves yearning daily for what is just beyond our reach. We seem to have every possible avenue for happiness, yet we continue to search for something beyond.

El Dorado takes inspiration from the age-old tale of the search for the lost golden city as a metaphor for our constant desire for what's next. Conquistadors came, conquered, and destroyed civilizations, yet, for centuries, they continued to arrive simply wanting more but often leaving in worse shape (or not at all). After obtaining virtually everything, they found only an insatiable desire for more.

El Dorado is not arguing that you should not seek to improve ones circumstance...it is not saying that you should be content where you are. It is arguing that if you are to move onto the next thing, that that new thing be worthwhile and not simply done out of restlessness.

Many continuously think "better" is just somewhere that they are not...and that's the crux of the issue. When change is simply an avenue to encounter something "better", that avenue must continue as those new places become familiar and, yet again, boring. If change is an avenue to improving the self, the change itself ceases to be the goal and a destination can be found.