The Meaning
Initially, this piece was inspired by an old Simon and Garfunkel song called “The Sound of Silence” which was more recently covered quite well by the metal band Disturbed. The lyrics, “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls” made such a deep impression on me that I wanted to include this idea in the illustration.
“New York Redemption” became a very personal piece for me, but also a difficult one because of the many struggles I had growing up there under the authority and accusations of my parents’ bitter relationship. At the time I was developing this piece, I had been writing a lot about those struggles and the issues that I had growing up, and it eventually became a book titled, “The Secret that kills/Spirit that Saves.“
I did not grow up in New York City but visited often; I lived about an hour and half north of there in the Hudson Valley. My father was born in Harlem and some of his relatives were from Staten Island. Many of the personal and family issues that my father had, which he refused to own or get any help for, were passed down to me and I believe they all started here.
NYC Skyline
This is my rendition of the New York City skyline in midtown Manhattan.
Subway in Motion
A subway train is traveling down the tracks in front of the skyline. Although they were often in motion and hard to see, I can remember seeing all the colors of the graffiti art on the subway trains when I was a kid. I loved the variety of colors and the style I saw painted on the subway cars and had often wondered what it all meant. I was artistically inspired by some of “the taggers” work. At times, I could make out some of the words and names on the train cars but many I could not, but I tried to take it all in as much as I could.
If I were going to tag a subway car, this is how I would do it because this is what I have experienced. It takes you through the heart of my personal issues and struggles which have haunted me for years (represented by the graveyard, skull, and ghost below the flaming dove) and it all started here, in the big city!
Stairway to Heaven
At the top right is a staircase with light shining down with ghostly angels pointing up to heaven. This indicates a way for myself to get out from the fallenness of my past and present issues which I could not escape, no matter how hard I tried. The harder I tried to escape the reality of the wounds inside of me, the more I found myself dying inside.
Redemption in Process (R.I.P.)
On the left of the subway graffiti lettering, there is a dove on fire, with a bloody embryo below, dripping blood on a skull. This indicates that I had, and am, going through a redemption process. The tombstone you see is engraved “R.I.P.”, expressing the truth that I can rest from the death of my old self as I learn how to trust in Him and He is the one who helps me let the bad inside me go.
The Process
Lots of silver color in this piece, probably more than any other that I have done over the past twenty years.
Graffiti Bleeds
The challenge in this one was to make the graffiti look real but readable. The letters on the bottom are blended with black and browns to display an old wooden cross as the blood of Christ bleeds in a vibrant red down over the wooded background.
Colors of the City
The city scape is blended with silver, grey, blue, black, and brown to show all the many distinct colors inside the city, and to show their brilliant and diverse architectural character. White and yellow were blended into the windows of the subway and building to pull the whole piece together.
The Wiping Method
The clouds around the staircase were created using a wiping method. The white you see in the clouds, is the original color of the canvas. The dark blue sky had jagged edges coming down into the red where I indicate a sunset behind the city, but also a dividing line between redemption and darkness.