I turned to photography in 2009 while between painting studios and did a series of photographic studies that I called “looking down” which chronicled the life of street detritus in my neighborhood. It seemed natural then—and a good counter-stretch for my neck—to also do a “Looking up” series.

When I did begin to walk around San Francisco looking skyward, what struck me was the network of poles, cables, wires, conductors, spacers and other unidentifiable objects that crowd the sky here, all of which had become almost invisible to me after having lived in The City so long. It seems like the delivery of power and telecommunications would be an orderly business, but what I saw was organic-looking and chaotic, growing willy-nilly, like tendrils of ivy or capillaries.

This series is an attempt to explore the structures we are building—that seem to almost construct themselves—as the nervous system and connective tissue of the body of the city.

Conté and acrylic on resin coated paper
12″ x 12″
(2010)