Moonstruck by Love in Chelsea, NYC, NY, USA

This July, the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery honored both the anniversary of the humanity's first walk on the Moon and the gallery’s own 25th anniversary with a video tour set to "Fly Me to the Moon." As it glides through the "Chelsea Curators' Choice" Exhibition, it pauses on paintings from my Love Series.

It is appropriate that my works are featured alongside this classic love song. These celestial huetopian canvasses is a meditation on the potential within all of us to embrace love and peace that overcomes turmoil.

Before starting the “Love” series of paintings, I thought about all the turmoil happening in our world today.  In India and other countries I am saddened to hear about women being brutally raped and murdered, while people watch and do nothing about the crimes being committed.  When you listen to the news updates, you hear about religious conflict, civil wars, bombs exploding, and all the fighting going on between nations, political parties, and people. People hate others for their skin color, and beliefs, but we are all human. How can we hate each other when we are all the same underneath a small layer of skin?

I was compelled to create symbolic paintings about the potential within all of us to find love and peace within our hearts and souls.  I created the paintings ‘Turmoil’, ‘Love’, ‘Love in the Air’, ‘Love and Peace’, “Respect”.  Paintings that symbolically speak through color and form, that shape what the words turmoil, love, peace, and respect depict.

I used red, a color of passion that is used to communicate love.  Blue was used to show the calming effect of peace.  I painted the tree as a form of security, sheltering the hearts from harm.  Without love, there is no peace.  Without peace, there is no love.  The candle in the heart symbolizes the soul of love.  The peace sign is known internationally as a sign of utmost peace. The size of the hearts symbolize how much love is needed in the world today.

If only the world could unite in love, instead of embracing conflict and turmoil. In other words, our world needs to keep on striving through hope to create a world where love and peace overcomes turmoil.

I am deeply grateful to Ruthie Tucker and Amsterdam Whitney Gallery for this spotlight. Watch the full tour and let me know which heart calls to you. Read more about the exhibition here.

‍Amsterdam Whitney Gallery
‍210 Eleventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001
In the Chelsea neighborhood between 24th & 25th Streets
Summer Hours: Monday-Friday: 10 am – 4pm; Saturday by appointment only
(212) 255-9050
‍amsterdamwhitney@aol.com
‍amsterdamwhitneygallery.com