Utopian Community, 2023

Wall prints that combine two overlaid mounted digitally manipulated photographs, each layer fits together as pieces of the puzzle.

Utopian Community 1: This print begins with a 19th century artist drawing of his interpretative map of New York leading to the harbor, overlaid with that harbor of present day Red Hook, itself echoing elements of its past through structures built over its history.

Utopian Community 2: In this print, a row house in Carroll Gardens is reflected within the windows of another, further overlaid with a Cobble Hill street. They have housed diverse classes and ethnicities at different times through the decades and in a more utopian world should still be available for all.

Utopian Community 3: This print focuses on the camaraderie of a local Tenant’s Union picnic in Coffey Park, overlaid by a different kind of community engagement in the form of taking to the streets, to fight for the kind of place we want our home to be.

Utopian Community 4: The bottom layer of the print is a street of Red Hook houses built for and once owned by many of the local workers, while the overlay is of a commercial space built for small manufacturing. An ideal urban neighborhood needs a healthy integration of live and work places to thrive.

Utopian Community 5: With this print of Red Hook where warehouses used to hug the coast, one now stands alone, layered with a ship docked nearby converted to a unique public arts space that is also a collector of local history and stories. We need to save pieces of the past as well as repurposing what we can to suit current needs.

Utopian Community 6: This print focuses on the last piece of the functioning port of NY that remains in our region of Brooklyn as it has adapted to the needs of a changing world, overlaid with the remnants of the 19th century neighborhood built as a port area. It is the waterways and our closeness to them that contributes to the specialness of the area, and we need to envision it with the careful balance of our needs and enjoyments with all that we share our ecosystem with.

Two-layer Digital Prints

13 x 9.5 inches (each)

Edition of 2

$4,800 complete series, $900 each