Each of us can look back through our lives and point to singular moments of pure awe. You recall with total clarity when you felt romantic love for the first time or were deeply affected by a song, a smell, or a stranger’s face. We treasure such moments. They reside in our subconscious, only to surface at odd times and torture us with a nostalgic tug. One such occasion for me was watching a performance by Sankai Juku.

The haunting, mesmerizing dances performed by Sankai Juku have inspired several of my paintings of concrete block walls. In this artwork, I wanted to capture the monk-like serenity of their minimal dances. As in their performances, a single spotlight on a darkened stage and a bald, unadorned dancer tell the story.