ABSTRACT ART

Anthony Bourdain passed away on June 8, 2018 and devastated lovers of food, drink, and culture everywhere. At this time, I was living and working in Mr. Bourdain's hometown of New York at a renowned Michelin star restaurant where his death hit the staff especially hard. A friend from work commissioned me for a piece to add to their shrine as they grieved and thus I started "The Industry Series", an homage to the vast number of people devoted to serving others. 

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Like many in my career, I didn't take my job seriously and therefore myself seriously. People would ask me often what I did for a living. If I answered them honestly as a server or bartender I would usually get the response "Yeah, but what do you REALLY do?" or something of that nature, as if that wasn't an acceptable answer. If I was meeting others for the first time or attending an art event where I would be showing work I would dread the eventual part of the conversation. It wasn't until I started incorporating my career as a subject matter into my artwork that I gained a sense of pride. I came to admire and respect the chefs, bartenders, servers, and dishwashers around me over the years and realized how tirelessly and most of the time thanklessly they worked. I had worked in the hospitality industry for over a decade and what was only meant to be a part-time job ended up being a life-changing experience.