Pigeons

Two things that bring me happiness are running and art, and here is a combination of the two. The irony and beauty of this scissored up project though is that it stemmed from a not-so-happy place. I’m happy I finally did it.

Back when I purchased these sneakers, I nicknamed them the Flatirons because I purchased them in the Flatiron District of New York City, and they just had that iron look to them. The Nike Running App will always ask to nickname your sneakers, and this is what I came up with.

I quickly forgot that name though and came up with a new name for them being the Pigeons – which ended up being a lot more suiting. For the app, it asks to provide a goal mileage target and it keeps track of your mileage. My goal mileage in these was 200 miles and the mileage for these ended up being 2.85 miles. Here comes the whole pigeon’s story.

As much as I wanted to take off in these, I couldn’t. Not sure what it is, and it is totally possible that it had nothing to do with the shoe, but every time I went for a run in these, I felt pain. They were great for walking, and I used them for cross-training so they stayed in my closet. The pain when running was undeniable though, before and after my fracture, so I quickly retired them. I usually donate sneakers, but I felt weird about donating these simply because of my experience. I also had something else in mind for them.

They looked like pigeons, and there were two pigeons outside of my apartment window. Something sad happened during quarantine last year in that one of the pigeons became ill and slowly started wasting away. I could see it, and there was not much to do. He or she really did put up such an amazing fight through long cold rainy nights, holding down its territory as other pigeons tried to infringe, until one day, it passed away. I had to get rid of it. Till this day I believe it was one of the pigeons that I made a painting of.

Sad story, yes, because at a time when I was most lonely, I caught myself talking. Talking and talking, until I one day realized these pigeons don’t understand me. Who am I talking to? At that point I realized that any negative self-talk is really a waste of energy.

That pigeon was no longer on my apartment stoop to check up on me, but my sneakers were still in the closet, and I always knew I wanted to make them into art – a pigeon. With this challenge finally came the time to pull out the scissors and have the pigeon come to life.

It ended up being a two-day process. I had a vision, and I went after it. After scissoring, gluing, taping, thinking, I started to relax and started enjoying. Art has always been a release for me into a world of curiosity and this is exactly what the pigeon symbolized for me. It may not be exactly how I envisioned it, but after completing it, I was able to fulfill my curiosity.

This also sparked great conversation between my mother and me. We have been having a bit of a rough patch, however, she asked what I was doing, and we talked about this project. I appreciated that she didn’t completely dismiss it and then we really shared a deep conversation.

Now, not only will these shoes remind me of the pigeon, but more so they will remind of the curious work that art brings about and the work that any relationship takes.

Next up, trying magazine collages!