Empire
A Collection of Works about New York City
Colored paper cut-and-layered to represent an imagined scene in gentrifying Brooklyn. A West Indian nanny stands looking into the window of a store beneath a black-and-white striped awning labeled "Park Strollers." Beside her, the pale legs of a toddler peek out from beneath the shade of of a stroller. To her right, another West Indian nanny sits on a bench, behind another pale-skinned baby.
Colored paper cut-and-layered to represent an imagined scene in gentrifying Brooklyn. At left, a shadowy figure crouches before a dark background, on top of the one-story "24/7 Crime Heights Deli". In the store, a hooded robber points a gun at the clerk. Outside, on the street, another hooded burglar attempts to break into a small car. On the opposite side of the car, a police officer places a ticket on the windshield. Three more police officers stand on the sidewalk. One appears to be checking a mobile phone, while the second watches, and the third gazes down the sidewalk to the left. A small apartment building stands to the right of the deli behind the officers; only the bottom two stories are represented. In the top left window, a woman hangs a picture. Below her, a couple makes a toast with wine glasses. To their right, a man paints the wall with a roller. On the sidewalk below him, a hooded mugger snatches the purse of a woman walking past the stoop of the building, while a marked NYPD car drives by.
One-inch squares of re-purposed newspaper are arranged in a 50×42 grid to depict the Empire State Building and Midtown Manhattan as viewed from an elevated vantage point to the south. The squares are mostly grayscale with a few random colors scattered throughout. The piece is best viewed from a distance, allowing the "pixelated" image to blur together into a more coherent scene.