Over time, I have come to understand this project as rooted in a desire for connection with these gorillas—an understanding of friendship shaped by loyalty, attention, and long-term commitment.
Since 1994, I have made routine visits to Zoo New England’s Franklin Park Zoo in Boston to draw Western Lowland Gorillas. What began as an open curiosity about apes, animal behavior (including our own), and a desire to draw directly from life has evolved into a long-term, committed practice. I spend hours at the gorilla habitat, working on 22” x 30” paper with charcoal, returning again and again over nearly three decades. I call this ongoing body of work The Ape Drawing Project.
Some paintings reflect the distinct presence or personality of individual gorillas, while others move beyond likeness. Over time, they have become deeply familiar to me—I recognize aspects of myself in them.
The Ape Drawing Project and my long-term relationship with these gorillas at Franklin Park Zoo have given rise to themes that continue to influence my work. As I draw, I quietly observe the visitors, and in turn, they often observe me—as if I, too, am part of the exhibit. This reciprocal exchange introduces a sociological dimension to the work, using the zoo as a metaphor to explore broader cultural questions, including animal nature and human nature, class awareness, and the act of looking itself as both experience and entertainment.