Sept 8th, 16' 8:13pm
Breaking Chains Script
Overview- The Breaking Chains experience focuses on the road to enlightenment and liberation of routine and methodical approaches of living, thinking and feeling. Society has built a fortress from the ground up in our minds that break down our lives and how we should live within a limited frame of mind. Passions are no longer pursued because of a lack of enthusiasm, support, creativity or funding. Through removing myself from an oppressive 9-5, I was able to capture images all across Europe, traveling through Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and more doing the things that inspire me the most. This exhibition will encompass photographs and notes highlighting portions of my journey to breaking those chains that limit expression and pursuit of fulfillment in work and everyday life.
May 29th, 17' 11:55am
It's been about a year since I quit my job at SneakerWatch and Vlad Tv to pursue something outside of my everyday life in New York City. I dug so much about the city and still do but the work environment wasn't conducive to a healthy atmosphere where one could develop and it took me a couple years to outgrow it and seek creativity elsewhere. My first step in doing that was backpacking across Europe. Prior to the journey, I knew I'd have to showcase my work across a bigger platform and host some of it in a gallery, but I didn't want my adventure to only be the inspiration for a show; that was secondary, possibly even higher on the list of reasons to backpack through Europe. The truth was I in search for more of myself. Looking for something that I couldn't find in the space I was occupying at the time. I craved changed, and to a certain degree, I was running away from something. Traveling the world was never about proving myself or showcasing my talent when I got back to the states. My adventure's inspiration became a spark of light in a time when I was meeting new people and embracing the things they could teach me.
From those relationships, I learned more about myself, discovering pieces of me I knew were there but didn't take heed to or wasn't ready embrace at the time. A year later after perusing through notes in my iPhone, I wanted to take myself back into that space where I first considered doing freelance work full-time and was prepping for my show. I stumbled across a draft of a script I was sending to a business partner of mine detailing what the main theme of my show was and how it came about. In that moment it took some time to word it exactly in a way that felt comfortable to me. For a long time, I wouldn't even share my certain pieces of my writing because I thought they were too personal, intimate and insightful of the person I was and I didn't want people that close to me. I know that things take time and should happen organically in my mind, so now a year later after quitting my job, I'm a full-time freelance artist traveling for work and leisure from time to time, living more in my purpose and sharing my gifts as they were meant to be. Isn't that what life's all about?
(side note) I'll probably be sharing some of my meditations from my time over in Europe throughout the next couple of days, some of which were in my Breaking Chains visual experience, and others that didn't make the cut. I'm super grateful for my friends who showed me how significant it is to travel and embrace different cultures outside of my own. The world is so much more vast than our backyards, states, and even our own country.