August 22nd - 14:37

Title: August 22nd - 14:37 Medium: Super-8 film Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 2880 x 2160 File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4. Comments: Jason from Gabba Gallery invited us over to his mother Judys apartment, which was a floor above him in the same building. I've only met her a couple of times at gallery shows at Gabba. She too is an artist, a wonderful painter. Judy spends all her free time creating landscapes from her imagination, painting shapes, and forms of colors. I can see where Jason gets his talent from when I look at the influence she has on his work. It's all about love! We were all crowding in her kitchen when making this shot. Jason was holding the ceiling lamp in her direction while I was holding down the shutter. It was a team effort. A family affair. Judy is a sweet lady and has a son who loves and takes great care of her. They live together, make art together, have fun together. It's an inspiring relationship I wish I had with my mom. You see, my mom encouraged me to be an artist. Because she too wanted to be an artist and interior designer, but couldn't. Or at least did not try to pursue that dream. Why? Maybe because she had kids and the dream faded to bring us up. Some people see things differently. But mom pushed me to do well in school and express myself to be the best I can be. Even when I was being a piece of shit in high-school doing and selling drugs until I got busted by cops and robbed by gangsters. It scared me straight. It was the lessons I needed to get my shit together to go into the city and attend an art school and become the artist I am today. Never regret the experiences you have, good or bad, because they lead you here to right now. Life is one big school, and everything that happens to us is a lesson, and everyone we meet can teach us something if we watch and listen closely. That is the beauty and horror, however you can see the glass half empty or full. It's not the cards we are dealt, it is how we respond to the situation. In a way we are in control of our destiny, by choosing how to be and how to think from moment to moment as we train ourselves conditionally to be in this world. In a blink of an eye or at a snap in a finger we can change our entire perspective, if we can take a second to breathe and know how you want to feel. Thank you to the mothers. Who push us from the nest to allow us to fly into the night. Where faith is the light. To believe in oneself, as they believe in us. Right before my mom died I remember when she took us to this cow restaurant in Long Island. I was 11 months into my first 365 project, The Birthday Project. It was August 11th, 2013. My mom, Gabrielle, sat my sister, Marisa, and I down for eggs and pancakes. She broke the news to us that she only had a few months to live. I was instantly hit with fear and pain. Paralyzed my entire being. The words were like a television static buzzing in my ear, or a flash bang grenade feet away humming in my drums. Dismembered and dissociated from the moment at that table. Tears ran down my face. She can't fight it like she used to, I thought? The cancer was all over her body this time. The doctors were wrong, they told her to stop taking the medicine. They fucking killed her... Recurrence after months of remission. Fuck. I wanted to give up on this project that I have been working on to convey the beauty of life, the gift of being alive, what we have right now. I felt dead inside from this news. I told my mom I can't move and cant do this project anymore. She stomped her hands down on the table and said to me, No! Justin, I will find someone whose birthday it is. Mom went around the entire restaurant while I sat outside on a bench to get some fresh air and shed more tears in solitude. She came back outside no more than 5 minutes later with a young man with a big bright smile on his face. It was his birthday and he was celebrating with his family. What are the odds? My mom was also smiling knowing that she was helping me complete my project and not give up on something I have been fighting for, for nearly a year and was almost at the end. In both sense of the word. I mustered up my strength, wiped the tears from my eyes and made art with this young man who was my age and my mom. The first time I really felt like she gave a fuck about what I was doing, to make something of myself in this world by making art with people. This is my calling, and she knew. She believed and the confidence was bestowed onto me to keep me going. I snapped the Polaroid and a smile emerged from the chaos. Art is what heals, Art is what keeps life joyful and fun, Art is how we can connect with each other and the world around us. This is why I create; because I believe it has the power to make the world a better place. It shows us purpose, and it gives us hope.