"Umami" Painting

Street / Pop / Contemporary *** NYC x LA *** I once jumped onto Manhattan subway tracks during rush hour to lift up a girl who had passed out and fallen onto the rails. Seconds after I hoisted her limp body up to stunned onlookers, then pulled myself out... the next train screamed into place. Moments like that (in memory, at least) move in slow motion. I didn't think, I acted out of some instinctive reflex. Perhaps it was a flow state. This also happens when I surf in the ocean. I am aware of a force greater than me that can threaten my life but it becomes something worth the risk for the feeling of tapping into a beautiful challenge. When I make art--which I do one way or another each day--I am at my best in a similar flow state. I get lost, I use less of my brain, more of my instincts. Everyone has a version of this. You do this. We see each other most clearly when we get lost together.