POHGOH - “Hammer”
I always love when my music life intersects with my art life, and this particular intersection was very meaningful to me. Pohgoh and my old band Dig Miner Dig first played a show together back in 1994 or 95 at the Stone Lounge in Tampa, FL. I never would have guessed that almost 30 years later I’d be making a music video (of sorts) for them using one of my painting process videos. Hammer is a powerhouse of a song about Susie’s personal experience living with Multiple Sclerosis, and I was equally inspired and terrified of trying to create something that would be able to stand alongside the heartbreaking beauty that Pohgoh had crafted.
Hammer is such a disarmingly personal, honest and hauntingly beautiful depiction of what Susie wrestles with internally and externally - it really resonated with me and brought to mind things my dad (also a musician) expressed to me while he struggled with Parkinson’s disease. In this painting, I was trying to convey some of that strength and determination that Susie projects even as she lives with challenges that few of us can see or even imagine.
I’m so grateful to Keith Ulrey and Susie Richardson Ulrey for thinking of me for this.
Click to Enlarge