Shadow Drawings

The city was, and well still is, a very expensive place to live. I worked at Saks Fifth Avenue on the team responsible for setting the windows that you see when you walk up and down the avenue; it was a dream job but didn’t pay very much so I had to get creative with how I made art. I remember my first year I was so poor that for breakfast and lunch I had a packet Ramen noodles and for dinner a potato. I miscalculated how many I had because on the Thursday before I got paid, I ran out of potatoes and all I had left in my kitchen was an onion – so I ate it. I didn’t tell my family until well after I had left New York about some of my more interesting experiences because in my mind, this was my venture and whatever consequences I faced, they were mine to own. I “borrowed” paper and pencils from work so I could at least sketch. I remember sitting under a tree in the park and watching how its shadows danced on the paper and became instantly inspired by the shapes. I began to trace them and created dozens. On my way home I stopped by Duane Reed (the local drug store) and bought some cheap construction paper, parchment paper, and glue. I sat at my makeshift desk crafted from materials I found on the side of the street and began cutting and creating what I called “shadow drawings”.