Thank you Charles Simonds, not only for this glorious work of art (Left Turns, 1981), but for the deeply felt joy of discovery it provided. Preceded by rumor, research and reconnection with your work, the entire experience aligns with my own wonderment in exploring our expanding metropolis.

‘Roamin Thro’ the Gloamin’ Traffic

in search along Dead Horse Bay

‘Bai Bai’ Sidhu Moose Wal & Gulab Sidhu

By 1970, pioneering Brooklyn shipyard worker Jerry Bianco and his two sons built the 40 ton, 45 foot submarine ‘Quester I’ with scrap metal in hopes of gathering artifacts from the wreck of the Andrea Doria. Though the vessel never embarked on its mission (locked for a half century in Coney Island Creek mud), this proud hulk is imbued with the spirit of enterprise and exploration, it’s conning tower still riding higher than the highest tides.

‘Easy Wind’ Grateful Dead

Photos of the launch of ‘Quester I’ and Mr. Bianco, Brooklyn, NY, 1970 via wrecksite.eu

Grotteschie, 2022

found porcelain, braided steel cable, epoxy

10 x 10 x 1 ft (dimensions variable)

ROMA MCDLXXX (CE 1480)

A wandering man fell through a hole on Capitoline Hill above Rome. Lighting a torch he illuminated a labyrinth of painted walls revealing artistic styles lost to time. Twisting vines and ever sprouting leaves painted symmetrically, climbed the walls in reds, pinks and greens entwining fantastic beasts and effortlessly supporting architectural scenes of far away places. He had stumbled upon the remains of Nero’s Domus Aurae - a sprawling palace burned to the ground in LXIV (CE 64) and long since covered over with more than a millennium of rock and debris. The revelation attracted Raphael and other artists who then adopted and interpreted these themes into the Renaissance canon. These motifs retained a hold on the artistic and architectural imagination well into the 20th century. Hybrid creatures were a favorite, leading to the term grotesque (ie: grotto). Strange faces grimacing above doorways and spiraling acanthus leaves on building facades are prevalent here in NYC and other places emulating the grottesci of Rome.

‘Can’t Find My Way Home’ Blind Faith

The Body as Stylus 2011-2021

Celebrating a Decade of the Dido Project.

In an effort to more fully understand and define the historic shores of New York City I have been GPS tracking littoral excursions inspired by the Oxhide Myth in which the Phoenician Queen Dido acquired land in Tunisia by deceiving the Berbers. She requested and was granted a small piece of land- the amount encompassed by the hide of an ox but to the Berbers’ dismay the hide was cut into thin strips and joined together to circumscribe an entire hillside. In my own benign version of this fable I seek to encompass the entirety of the City- some 570 miles. Though more than 620 miles have been logged (including surrounding metropolitan areas and repeat excursion tracks) there are many more to come.

‘Eminence Front’ The Who

in the shadow of Lady Liberty

‘Help on the Way’ Grateful Dead

Alpha Omega, 2021

seaborne petroleum ovoid, pewter, steel

12 x 6 x 3 in.

solo Grateful Dead at Eugene, OR January 22, 1977

Battle of Tucapel, 2021

pewter, steel, aluminum

16 x 30 x 28 in.

As a child, Lauturo was abducted by Pedro de Valdivia, the Spanish Governor of Chile. Serving as the conquistador’s personal servant he learned military tactics and horsemanship. Finally escaping years later, Lauturo returned to his Mapuche people. As toqui, or wartime chief he used this acquired knowledge to decimate the conquistadors at the Battle of Tucapel in 1553 where the captured Valdivia met a grisly end. In one account, he was given the riches he sought- molten gold poured down his throat.

‘The Beast’ Rhythm Devils

wooden hulks resting in the Arthur Kill

‘Take Five’ Dave Brubeck

windy day at Barren Island

‘Come Back’ J. Geils Band

photogrammetry at West Jetty

‘Crazy Fingers’ out-take Grateful Dead San Rafael, Ca June 5, 1975