Introduction

All through my childhood, I struggled with finding a way to communicate with others because as a stutterer verbal communication was difficult and emotionally painful. At an early age I found an outlet for self-expression in the form of drawing pictures. I would sit for hours and draw futuristic and utopian dream worlds. Family, friends, classmates, and teachers were touched and impressed by my work and I received formal art training at the Art Institute of Chicago between the ages of nine and eleven. Eventually I moved on to architecture, photography and filmmaking, but drawing was always a part of me. I would doodle in classes, on the bus, and while I was on the phone.

After graduating from college I wrote film scripts during the day and worked at night at a company that collected box office grosses from theaters around the country. I would spend my evenings sitting on the phone collecting numbers in a room with about thirty other people. One day someone noticed my doodling and asked if they could have it. At first I thought they were joking, then one by one, everyone wanted one of my doodles. I began to notice that my unconscious drawing was creating images that appeared to be reflecting deep inner processes within myself. I made a practice out of my unconscious drawing, using it as a form of therapeutic self-expression. As I drew more and more, my images revealed a powerful inner struggle between flesh and spirit. I let the images unfold and then meditated on them.

The following collection of drawings represents my self-reflection journey both chronologically and psycho-spiritually. When I put the drawings together the title and cover image came to me. Even though my drawings were mostly done with pen and ink, the word etchings seemed more appropriate because these images arose out of deep patterns etched within my heart and mind.

Sample Images