Why Bikes?
My fascination with bicycles began the months I lived in Beijing.
I had never seen so many bikes, so much variety, and a bike lane
that could rival a freeway. I photographed hundreds of bicycles
that summer--people riding them, pulling couches behind them, a
lady who’d put a cat in a cage above the back wheel, trailers
hauling children, caged birds, televisions, and several old men. I
wanted to be part of the bike river so I bought a green bike for the
equivalent of $7. I discovered the faulty brakes as I nearly got hit by
a bus. Luckily my rubber soled sandals scraped across the pavement
and saved me. I learned Mandarin for the “the brakes don’t work”
and convinced an auto shop to help with repairs. As the sun set, the
plan to ride across the city suspended as my friend and I were lost,
locked up our bikes and took a cab home. The street signs being in
Chinese characters made it difficult to record our location. I spent
the rest of the summer on weekends determined to find that green
bike again, but always ended up on a new adventure …one day a
dance with a kung fu fighter in the park another day I met a
pregnant lady on the street and she invited me to her home. We ate
watermelon and I drew her portrait. The moments I found in the
attempt to find that green bike fed my love of life’s details. Nearly a
decade later, I live in Los Angeles, where a sea of crazy traffic does
not create the most inviting environment for bicycles…but when I
do ride…I feel free. I get to see the details that pass too quickly
outside a car window. Along the bike path at the beach, I can watch
bikes for hours and try to draw them as they speed by. Painting
bicycles is an extension of that feeling of freedom.