This piece started as a love letter to block I live on, and the view I used to wake up to every morning from my dorm room window, as documented in my sketchbook. However, over the course of the three weeks I worked on it, it evolved into a meditative, personal introspection of my life in New York City. I began to weave into my illustrations -- written details about what I was eating, thinking, songs I was listening to, snippets of conversations I had, how I was feeling on a particular day, my interactions with the people in the city who are important to me, a panic attack, a perfectly wonderful date, and other experiences I had while I was drawing on location in my sketchbook. I later compiled these sketchbook drawings into this book.

 

I see this piece as a memoir that visually documents my old block, the happenings on the street outside my window and the spirit of the home that the city is to me, while the hand-lettered text takes the reader on an emotional journey.