Our modern world seems to always be in flux and new technologies expedite the multitude of changes. With all this fluidity and innovation pouring into our daily lives, people seek a sense of stability and consistency, a place with a sense of order. Steadfast structures, the tall buildings, bridges, the houses we live in, give us a feeling of security needed to perform our daily tasks, to go to work, to live our lives. The luxury of stasis, manifested brick by brick by laborers, is assured to be provided to those preoccupied with the function of these structures. But for construction workers, these structures are the ebb and flow of drastic changes in the world and it is all in a day's work.
In the city, I pass by plastic barricades separating the general public from exposed skeletal frames, pits, jutting debris, and towering heavy equipment. Uniformed workers, their faces shaded by helmets, are at the center of all that is torn up, moved, and altered. At these construction sites, there is a glimpse into the enormous expenditure of effort necessary to arrive back at a state of stasis.
My painting series of construction workers tells how they transform the world, turning old buildings into ghosts using jack hammers and wrecking balls. From their daily labor, they give birth to the new structure, the replacement, the new landmark of stability. Observing them working has given me the chance to look into another world, a constantly fluctuating world that lays the foundation for my own as I walk through the city.
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