The Paths series was born out of a trip I took one summer to LA. The trip itself was more of an escape from my life in New York. At the time I was at a crossroads. Having just gone through a difficult breakup I was struggling to find work that I loved and an overall direction for my life when I was presented with an opportunity to do a mural for a production studio there. I jumped at the chance thinking it could be great to get some distance, do something for work that I loved, and hopefully get a little perspective.

On my daily trips from where I was staying with my brother in West Hollywood to the site of the mural in Downtown, I had developed a ritual for taking at least one photograph a day of something that I found beautiful. This was my way of lifting my mood and shifting my focus from my problems to the things that inspire me.

One particular day while I was walking to the subway, I stopped at a crosswalk to wait for the light and saw the roots of a tree that had broken the pavement. I was so intrigued by the sight of it, by the way this tree continued to thrive right where it was, in the concrete paved world of West Hollywood. It seemed so resilient, and unaffected by the life that had built up and pressed in around it. It seemed to own the ground that surrounded it, casting off chunks of asphalt from the exposed roots that dove in and out of the pavement before disappearing beneath the surface.

And I thought, that’s exactly what I wanted to do, to break up the obstructions and restrictions I was feeling, dive beneath the surface, and get back in touch with my own inner resilience and ability to thrive in this world.

And so, I went home with my picture for that day and began drawing.

The Paths drawings became a reflection of my inner world, a look beneath the surface at myself, the experiences that left their mark on me, and my ability to see the beauty in all of it. In this way I feel the works speak to the resilience that can be found both in nature and within ourselves to overcome obstacles and thrive in the conditions we find in the landscape of our lives.