The Tuesday passed normally and I continued giving the drawing and painting class in my studio. After the class, I went up to home for lunch and decided to turn on the television to watch the news. On the screen a scene was exhibited with special effects where one of World Trade Center towers was imploded. A few minutes passed before I realized that I was watching, live, the fall of the second tower. At that moment, amazement and incredulity took possession of me and they stayed with me for a few days. In fact, I felt like a zombie for a couple of days. It was as if I was out of touch with reality, and so I was feeling around in search of my senses.
The fact is that New York captivated me since the first time I put my heart in “her” bosom. For me, “she” is an extension of Sao Paulo, the city where I live, because as well as my megalopolis; “she” always welcoming people from all corners of the world. However, “she” is an improved Sao Paulo and the big difference is in the life quality and in the respect to the city. You notice dignity in the people wandering in the streets and that makes you feel accomplice of the urban environment and feel at home.
That intimacy between me and “The Big Apple” has always been cozy to me. Even being distant and without seeing “her” a long ago, I always felt beside of “her”. Therefore, when I noticed what was happening, only the tears that were flowing from my eyes could express my anguish and, therefore, only silence could make company to my tears. And so it was for a few days. It was a wound of difficult healing and when moments of anguish or sadness occur to me, I paint.
In those moments, the elaboration of a logical, aesthetic and compositional strategy is the tool that I use to convey my emotions in my paintings. So, I used two frames to demonstrate two Big Apple moments.
Work 1 - I represented the city before and during the attack. There is a New York daytime scene painted in watercolor and another night scene painted in oil. I also used the usual computer boards, in addition to including a satellite photo of the two towers and the cell phones that were of great importance for the farewells between the people who were trapped in the buildings and their families. Several other elements represent the two towers in an analogical way. Two dancers relate to a heart and point to the statue of liberty, which could not fail to be represented.
Work 2 - I represented the city, after the attack. At its top, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty act as witnesses. In it there is a night scene, painted in oil, which shows two beams of light coming out of where the towers were and heading towards the sky. A subway train, also painted in oil, features real photos of some people who died in the incident. From the debris at the bottom of the picture, the colors of the solar spectrum emerge, forming white light as a sign of rebirth. The logo of the fire department is inserted in a piece that shows all the directions of action of this heroic brigade. The painted image of an apple (symbol of the city, Big Apple) is connected with a satellite photo after the incident. The couple of dancers direct the viewer's gaze to the city above.
Well, this is the synthesis; the rest is for free interpretation.
Walter Miranda – 2002
Technique: Oil + objects on wood
Dimensions: 69.5 X 102cm
Year: 2002 Objects used: Sawed and grounded computer boards, disassembled cell phones, glass domes, ceramic objects, calendered cardboard, acrylic etc.
