NY Muse, my latest project, is inspired by both Greek mythology and our current culture. The works in this project find their inspiration from many sources including: a Public Works project, Dr. Seuss, the doomed Edie Sedgwick (an Andy Warhol associate), a Vogue magazine fashion photo spread, Jimi Hendricks, and the New York Public Library lions.

The Neoteric poets* wrote about their culture in a colloquial manner — yet with allusions to the classics — expecting their readers to enjoy the work on many levels. My work, which I describe as Popteric*, marries colloquial and classical, traditional painting and installation, and my intention is that my viewers also enjoy it in its many dimensions.

The premise of NY Muse is that standing in my studio one day, I said the fatal words of the ancient poets: “O sing Muse.” They did, and I was inspired. NY Muse is the result. Like Ovid’s Metamorphosis, the project is comprised of many small stories. These stories feature re-workings of original myths alongside newly created myths involving the Greek deities and mythological personae, set against the backdrop of New York City. As an artist, I see these new myths first as “ekphrasis”* developed into paintings, and then morphed into literature and installation.

*Popteric is a word I invented to describe the linking of the Classics with pop culture of 1970’s New York City.

Neoteric poets: Ancient Roman writers including Ovid and Catullus; Ekphrasis: an ancient Greek word meaning “picture phrase.”