Pigeons
Pigeons 2017-2018 | Acrylic on Canvas
A distraction from graduate studies and over-intellectualizing everything. I got lost in these birds as I worked through the complexities of our society and art—and realized that even these expressive, colorful, individualistic compositions still came back to grids.
The Work: Pigeons represent resilience and adaptability within the constraints of an environment we've built for them. These birds thrive on concrete, rooftops, ledges, and drains—never looking the same as their comrades, only unified in moments of escape. They stick out in color and manner upon the ridges and lines we've placed around them.
Why Pigeons: I have a lot of respect for these birds. They know their environment and their cohabitants like no other. They embrace our architecture. They enjoy our friendship. They understand our world. They thrive.
Connection to My Practice: They are part of the grids I've obsessed over, abstractly, for over 20 years. The pigeon embodies the tension between individuality and conformity within our constructed world—adapting with surprising harmony to the systems imposed upon them.
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Approach: Expression-filled, colorful compositions exploring individuality within structure
"Pigeons are among the most maligned urban wildlife despite the fact that human beings brought them to our shores and turned them loose in our cities—not something that they chose." - Andrew D. Blechman
