"WHY ELEGY?"
ELEGY, 44, is best known as an NYC based conceptual artist of figurative canvases in spray-paint, oil stick, “tearing processes”, and his iconic stenciled text in a distinctive “WORD-FACE” style that challenges how we read language and image.
“ENGAGEMENT WITH NYC”
ELEGYʼs first black and white photography series entitled “ENGAGEMENT” about experiencing the raw beauty and the rough textures of NYC seen and felt for the first time after moving there from Michigan to become an artist.
He focused on capturing the seen-unseen and found objects in NYC which led to his first breakthrough photo '3 Hearts and One Starʼ,
"WHAT ARE WORD-FACES?"
“Some of the most difficult moments in my life in New York City happened during this series of paintings,”
“I was trying to find the words to keep from drowning after experiencing a series of personal traumas.”
The project was grounded in two of ELEGY's favorite subjects — corrosion and words— and came at a time when ELEGY was increasingly a reclusive outsider artist.
“The words are about coming to grips with life as an HSPer with depression, and how it had held me back in the past without even knowing it.”
"WHAT IS 'THE WEEB IN YOU?"
ELEGYʼs comedic coming-of-age debut novel about Japan, "The WEEB In Me" is 342 exciting pages that read like youthful entries in a travel diary. The novel is filled with the reckless, frantic, manic, surging energy and the purity of the jagged line of youth. Each alternating chapter begins with a short haiku poem to help prepare the reader along the path.
"I MADE THIS HEART WHEN I HAD A BROKEN HEART."
They say that the NYC subway system is just a reflection of the city above ground, just a microcosm of the quality of life in the city above. And at that time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the city was brave amid a dark crisis and so was the subway system, but it was also filled with the resilience and strength of those who worked to keep the city functioning
