The Beautiful Game

This painting, to put it simply, is about the power of connection. In this hyper-connected world that we live in where people feel less connected than ever, it is important to remember, appreciate, and engage in the things that bring us together. For me, soccer (or futbol or football, it doesn’t really matter) has always been a place for me to feel united with a person or a group of people, in the pursuit of challenging ourselves, appreciating our bodies, and exploring our physical limits, but mainly just having fun.

I wanted to make this painting out of appreciation for the beautiful game, the players, and the tournaments, which have brought people together for over a hundred years. I wanted to show gratitude for being able to watch the greatest World Cup in history in 2022 and what a profound moment of unity it was for people all over the world to support one man on his quest to achieve greatness. As millions can attest, watching him play, witnessing that journey and the joy he brought people not only in Argentina but across the globe, was one of the most awe inspiring and simply inspirational things I’ve ever witnessed. But it wasn’t just about one man it’s about what he represents. For that reason, I included him along with seven other legends, all representing different countries, who provide a similar vein of hope for hundreds of thousands more people.

I also really wanted to highlight one of my favorite stories ever, about The 1914 Christmas Game. This story tells about the ceasefire, that was held at various spots on the Western Front, between the British and German troops in WWI. Soldiers sang, exchanged gifts, and even played football. For me, this is one of the most hopeful counts of humanity and demonstrates the power of sport to bring us together even during one of the darkest times in history. Similarly, I wanted to pay tribute to the original GOAT, Pele. He himself is also credited with being responsible for a ceasefire during the Nigerian Civil War. In 1969 Pele played in an exhibition match in Lagos, Nigeria and there was a 48-hour ceasefire achieved so that both sides could watch Pele play.

I made this painting as a reminder to myself that, as alone as I may sometimes feel, there will always be ways to find connection, and there will always be things that unite us.

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Healing

The process for this painting began when I came back from a visit to the hospital with the second set of

x-rays of my hand. Months prior I had gotten what I thought was the worst jammed finger of all time off a tipped rebound while playing pickup. It wasn't until after 6 weeks and dozens more pickup games that I began to question my original diagnosis. After having x-rays done the doctors told me that I had a minor break in the lower joint of my pinky finger and that the swelling and function would return to normal in a matter of weeks. 6 months after that I went back in complaining about how I was still experiencing pain, stiffness, swelling, and limited range of motion. They retook x-rays, explained to me that the bone was completely healed, and sent me on my way, but not before I convinced the nurse to let me take the images home. After taping them up on my wall with the hundreds of other scraps of paper I sat and thought about the whole experience.

I thought about how symbolic this saga was and how many different lessons I could take away in regard to the process of healing. Firstly I thought about how I neglected the signals my body sent me to stop playing not just in the moment, but later that afternoon, and in the weeks and months that followed the initial break. I simply didn't take the time and effort to deal with the problem of having a broken finger right at the start of summer. Mainly I just didn't show restraint when the hoop chat kept blowing up, I didn't give myself the space to heal.

I could sit there all day and kick myself for not being more forward thinking but at this point, the bone was "healed" and I had 90% range of motion without much pain. I decided it was best to try to accept the situation for what it was and learn from it as best I could. My main takeaway was that healing, like most things in life, just doesn't go how we expect it to. When it first happened I thought it would go away in a few minutes like the many previous times I jammed my finger but it turned out to take months to heal and even now I still feel pain and can't stretch it out all the way. I have learned to be grateful just for the fact that my finger still works and for the experience as a learning opportunity. Though it was a minor injury it still taught me a lot about the process of healing.

I made this painting inspired by this experience and with the desire to make notes to help remind myself of the tools I've found for healing. Some of these notes include: the importance of seeing things from different perspectives, compassion for yourself is integral, other needs include intention, naps, movement/action, expression and acknowledgment of thoughts and feelings, community, and other ways to feel like you aren't alone, presence, crying, time, and most importantly hope.

GROUND

Growing up in the digital age I can safely say that I have developed an unhealthy relationship with my phone. This project started when I was a teenager and first started to recognize my dependency, specifically the way I unconsciously took out my phone during any lull in my life. One day, as I sat waiting for friends outside a restaurant, I wondered to myself if maybe I was better off just staring at the cars, people, and every other little thing around me. I discovered that it was kinda nice to just sit there. As I looked around it sort of felt like I was seeing the world for the first time, I don’t care how cheesy it sounds. Looking around with the intention to just take in whatever was there changed the way everything appeared and filled me with a deep sense of gratitude for being able to experience it all. I could find beauty in anything and everything, and then I looked down at my feet. My amazement deepened when I realized that even the view of the concrete at my feet was a sight to behold. I thought to myself that if I could find beauty in simple concrete, without even a single footprint or weed to make it interesting, then I could find beauty in any situation I found myself in. So I started taking these pictures out of genuine desire to capture what to me was a beautiful frame, this practice has served as a reminder to appreciate the little details of life as well as to remain grounded in it.

Years later I have finally begun to paint some of these photos in an effort to further express my gratitude for these beautiful little moments and share them in a way that emphasizes their importance and their completely ordinary nature at the same time. I am pleased to see that other people have also been taking these same types of pictures and I hope to continue to paint other people's moments because the point is to create an appreciation for the world that is relatable, and what better way to do that than to use a wide range of life.

I also think it’s worth mentioning that although I still very much struggle with staying off my phone, staying grounded in the present moment, and consistently seeing the world through the lens of gratitude, I have made progress and my mental health and general outlook on life have benefited greatly because of it.