Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2006SYR06
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Above Syracuse
poster information
Description
Above Syracuse
NiMo's Spirit of Light flies
giving us power
One day I was driving by the NiMo building. I had always admired the building's art deco design, but I had never really looked at the statue. This time it was a sunny day, and the light was hitting the statue in a way that made me look up. So I pulled over, looked at it and thought, “Wow!” It just sparked something in me. It seemed to be this powerful mythological creature, or a superhero, and it's, like, giving us power.
I went through a lot with the statue's gender—whether it's a man or a woman. Not knowing, and researching, and finally finding out its name—the Spirit of Light—I kind of like it. I like the idea of power not only as superhero power, but real power, electric power, as in light. I like the double meaning.
I grew up in Syracuse, so I've always been familiar with the NiMo building, and it always intrigued me. It's beautiful and very different from other downtown buildings.
Other students have illustrated the building, but usually from a distance. I was determined to have a close-up of the figure itself, because that's what the poem is about.
I do a lot of portraits, and that's what I wanted to do with the figure—express its humanity. It's not just a steel structure on a building—it's almost alive or real. I hope people will take a good look at it, appreciate it, and maybe have the same appreciation of the figure that I had. You know, people really don't take the time to look up at the building. So I hope that maybe that will happen.