Concrete Bloom
18”x24” canvas print
Does an ugly duckling have to become a swan before you see its beauty?
Concrete. Dirty, barren, bleak concrete - everywhere we look. That is the feel of many cities. The feel of a forced, artificial existence, devoid of life. And devoid of beauty.
Cities are never made to be beautiful. Beauty is only ever tacked on as an afterthought, when people realize the pain in their souls from what they’ve been missing for so long. Trees, art, parks, and other small patches of life spring up over time, breaking through the concrete we call our lives. And that’s where we think the beauty is - but we’re wrong.
Beauty is not something we create when we change what we don’t like to suit our desires better. Beauty is what we find when we change ourselves to see what we once did not, and to desire it instead of scorn it. And there is also beauty in that transition in us.
This piece is a question: have you ever seen the concrete bloom?