Morning Walk

Morning Walk is a series of prints I initiated in 2019 at a month’s residency at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA. It addresses experiences I had visiting the Bay Area, where my father lived in 1958, my parents met, and I grew up. As is my habit when in California, I started every day with a walk. Walking in parts of the Bay Area is not the same as walking in other places; people invest vast amounts of time, money, and labor in their yards. A sense of neighborhood pride shows itself in the cultivation and maintenance of all manner of cacti, fruit trees, native grasses, sculpted hedges, evergreens, perennials, pebble gardens, driftwood sculptures, rock walls, tasteful water features, and seemingly exotic flowers. There are “curb finds” of epic books, espresso makers, and designer clothing. In short, it’s a slice of heaven.

 While walking is a form of exercise, it is also a way to see, make note, and contemplate. As I explored hills and winding streets, I took casual photographs not only of plants but also of the way homeowners ordered and carefully organized their property. Some of these spaces were prime examples of compositional mastery. Morning Walk combines and arranges organic, plant-like forms with the hard-edged shapes and gridded patterns fundamental to my image making. These images came out of several contradictions I navigated while walking.