Voice of Vladivostok Painting

About The Artwork

This abstract painting is a case study in urbanization, focusing on Vladivostok, Russia's largest Pacific coast city. The geography represented is generally correct for Vladivostok, but the urban sprawl is an imagined state. In gold is an abstract representation of the extent of today's Vladivostok, Russia's largest east coast city. The street plan is abstract, but it's sizing is generally correct. In pinks, reds and purples is an imagined future, the potential city. The painting speaks to the oppressive power of relatively large capital cities. Russia is a good example of a nation that is stifled by its enormous capital city, Moscow. In this painting I capture the voice of a stunted city on the Pacific Rim. In the study of cities, an fascinating phenomenon, Urban Primacy, describes the dominance of one city over others. Russia exhibits urban primacy in its capital Moscow. More often than not, primate cities are capitals. Put simply: Capitals control the money and how it is spent; when they are very large the hoard resources, especially in communist states. The Pacific Rim is a region of the world that has seen explosive growth in nearly every nation that borders it. Russia, a major world power, stands apart from most of its Pacific Rim neighbors in that it has not developed a major, global city on the Pacific Ocean. Were to develop such a city, it most likely would be Vladivostok. This painting represents what Vladivostok could be if Russia was governed by a servant capital instead of a Czar capital city.

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