Utopia is a word and idea first coined in the year 1516, by English humanist Sir Thomas More who wrote and published a book titled "Utopia".
It compared social and economic conditions in Europe with those of an ideal society on an imaginary island located off the coast of the Americas.
More wanted to imply that the perfect conditions on his fictional island could never really exist, so he called it Utopia, a name he created by combining the Greek words ou (meaning "no, not") and topos (meaning "place.
The painting I have created is of "no place", though it may appear to be depict a real setting, it is a product of my imagination, which calls on experience and memory to simulate a sense of reality.
"Hotel Utopia" is an expression of my confusion regarding the human condition and the dilemas we face.
We live in an age in which folks can actually choose where they live as well as how to enjoy the product of their often chosen labor.
One would suspect that most would choose to live in a idyllic setting, like an island in the sun, or the quietude of a polyannaish rural landscape.
But instead humans seem to be playing the role of the moth, as they find themselves attracted to the flame.
The city is the flame, abuzz in neon lights, the sounds of traffic, the rumble of the crowd.
In this painting Hotel Utopia, its orange sign burning into the city's night air, next to the train station, dark foreboding, yet for some reason terribly inviting.