Moving to NYC some years back has really taken a toll on me in more ways than one. It has been something to behold and a phenomenon I haven’t quite yet adjusted to. Nonetheless, it has molded and shaped the new ways in which I view and engage with the world around me. The extreme vibes and constant motion that is New York contrasts starkly with the moments of solitude and introspection that I fall into so often. I identify closely with this dichotomy and it’s probably why I love Edward Hopper’s work so much.
Above are four of my favorite Edward Hopper paintings, “Nighthawks,” “Automat,” “Excursion into Philosophy,” and “Room in New York.” All of them speak to a profound sense of loneliness that is hard to put into words. There’s just something about the repeated themes of his subjects appearing lost in their own worlds despite the world going on around them––which seem to run parallel with my own lived experience. The profound irony here is that you can live in such a big city, with so many things to do, with so many different people and so many different stories, yet still manage to feel so isolated, so cut off, and so alone. Hopper understands how difficult this is to navigate and he intuitively knew how to represent these feelings visually.
I think Hopper’s ability to capture the agonizing humanity behind quiet introspection and what that looks like for some of us is genius. His body of work, among some of the other greats, has fueled my passion for art & design. It pushed me to think deeper about what I’m trying to communicate in my own work, and sparked in me a desire to further explore artistic themes of loneliness and solitude as it relates to the human experience.
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