In 2011, when I was still very active being an artist trying to make it (lolol). I often posted some of my artworks on the Craigslist (I do not use it nor recommend it anymore).
One day, a guy from NYC emailed me if I was interested in participating in a memorial exhibition for the 9/11 in NYC.
My first reaction was,,,, "This must be a scam."
I was a little scared and very cautious contacting with the guy through email. And it turned out to be a legit art exhibition commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11. He was also an Italian actor.
I started to paint this at the beginning of the summer. There was a restriction on 24" width. So, all I could do was go longer since I liked working on a larger canvas.
First I wrote a poem,
Rising
all of a sudden,
the world was overwhelmed by the
darkness
despair, fear, thousands of meaningless
deaths
nevertheless
we rise
we rise because of hope
because of our next generation
we rise and rise again
because we are the strength of life
itself
like the stars that shines in the
darkest universe
the lights of our lives
dignity and hope rise over and over
and lead us to the glory of our future
Rising
世界は突然暗闇に飲まれた
絶望、恐怖、理由のない幾千もの死
しかし私たちは立ち上がるのだ
希望のために
そして次の世代のために
何度でも
私たちは生きる力そのものだからだ
暗闇に輝く星たちのように
命の光は、尊厳や希望は
何度でも闇から舞い上がり
私たちの未来への栄光へとその道を示すのだ
Then, the painting.
Although I was not entirely happy with how the painting turned out, I shipped it out to NYC, and I was super excited about being a part of this exhibition.
When I left my city on a plane, I was honestly little scared because it was a very significant day for the US, and there was extremely high alert on terrorism.
From the airport to NYC, I did not know which station to get off. When I stepped outside of whatever the station, I was in Harlem.
First, I was petrified because of all the things I had heard about the infamous Harem.
HOWEVER, this quickly changed.
People were vivacious there. When I got on a bus, people were friendly, talking to each other, including the bus driver. When a blind man got on a bus, everybody was helping him, giving him a hand and telling him every stop we made. So, he will know the station to get off. My heart was quickly filled with warmth, peace, and joy.
All I had before coming here was the misconception of Harlem. I was ashamed. However, I was so delighted that I got off at the wrong station. Otherwise, I would have never known.
Where we had the exhibition was actually on a median. There is this tiny building used for as an exhibition gallery.
On 9/11/2011, I was so proud to be in NYC. There were firefighters from different countries marching, motorcycles, police officers, and etc...
It was such an uplifting atmosphere.
I became a friend with a street chalk artist who is very successful. He was drawing firefighters on the street, and many people stopped by and talked to him, including police officers. They all stayed for a while, talking to artists, talking to civilians. It was just a great feeling of the city and environment.
Our curator invited all of us to his penthouse on the upper west, where we had a great party on the rooftop. It was just a fantastic experience. I became good friends with 2 of the artists and still keep in touch.
I stayed 2 nights 3 days. Everyday, I visited Central Park and Times Square.
My hotel was on the upper west side about a 94-96th street. I enjoyed walking down to the park at day time and Times Square at night.
It was such an honour and privilege just being able to be a part of this whole event. I was very proud of this experience.
©shikoh，all rights reserved．
ポチっとしてもらえると嬉しいです。励みになります。
にほんブログ村
*All rights of the artworks, poetry, and photography are reserved to the artist. Please do not use it/them without my permission.*
