Sunday, April 12, 2009

Liftoffs and Landings



Flying is its own kind of holiness. The city miniscule below you, to be in the vastness of sky like an ocean - how can one not think thoughts apart of the ordinary bustling world, not think of God and meaning instead of work and the next to-do? I love flying into cities and seeing their geography laid out below me, each with their own unique signature. This is especially prominent at night, when the lights of the major cities shine like jewels. And they are each so different! Chicago shines in grids like a microchip with the downtown rising from the squares to lead your gaze towards the Great Lakes. Atlanta more organic like gold sea kelp lazily spreading out from city center to the suburbs; Atlanta at night is a sprawl of tendrils, which I love. Cities like Barcelona and San Francisco arise out from the mountains, creating contours of human defiance that is simply magnificent.

One day I will create a series of canvases depicting this topography of city lights with the meticulous smattering of lights and jewels that befit the labor of human construction.