Fear of Flying

I was on a plane flying back to LA this weekend, and although I haven’t painted it yet, I decided to name my next painting: “In the White.” We were going thru these really turbulent, thick clouds. You couldn’t see anything. All of the airplane windows were filled with this solid, impure white, like dirty cotton. You could feel the stiffness of the clouds, the sky felt tight and heavy as our plane pushed thru it. I’ve become increasingly more panicked as I get older when flying on planes. If the turbulence continues for a long time though, I usually will get to a point where I feel beyond afraid. I start out really shaky, then I push past that state to where I feel like it’s out of my hands. I realize I’m completely helpless, and I succumb to the fact that there’s nothing I can do. I let go of all control. I feel like a good name for this state is: In the White.

*Images are all Damian Loeb, Mary Boone Gallery, New York.