DISILLUSIONMENT

This particular EDIFICE (Formerly ShowBiz and Rebranded into Chuck E Cheese) has LONG been A tether to my yesteryears. it symbolized a turning point in my adolescence and was my first exposure to video games, robotics, and addiction to screened entertainment. The feeling of walking into THAT Neon kingdom full of Screams, Screens, bleeps, dings and pizza aromatics for the first time is forever embedded in my treasured Childhood memories as well as the privilege of celebrating my own birthday at this Mecca of YOUTH.

As time progressed and I found other interests alongside my peers, the desire to revisit this sacred temple of fun diminished which coincided with THE RISE OF home video game consoles. However, I was granted the opportunity TO revisit chuck e cheese sometime during my college years while visiting my hometown. I was invited to a birthday that a former babysitter and godmother to my sister was throwing for her own children. While I was OVERCOME BY THE ExciteMENT AND SUSPENSE OF A nostalgic experience with my siblings as WE WALKED THROUGH THOSE RED DOORS, the feeling I left with was something else entirely…

Years Later, After QuitTING a 10 yr Career in engineering, Traveling and living in Europe, MOVING to AND LEAVING Los Angeles, I MADE THE DECISION TO MOVE BACK TO MY HOMETOWN OF WILMINGTON. Seeing Toys R Us Shut Down across the street FROM CHUCK E CHEESE was the first signal of a disappearing era but I would continue to see MY BELOVED ChUCK E. CHEESE While driving by and Feel a Spark of WONDER Despite a lackluster experience as an adult.

Chuck E Cheese OFFICIALLY shut down in 2020. I remember driving by aND SEEING its doors closed 30+ years after HOSTING MY Birthday Party and Noticing its empty parking lot, windows taped up, lights turned off, unlit signage AND feeling That same thing inexplicable confusion from My last visit as an adult. I believe the duty of every artist is to transmute and TRANSLATE the inexplicable into something that we as humans can perceive in whatever medium we choose. i eventually Acted on THOSE FEELINGS and with a camera IN HAND, THE WEIRD THRIFTED MINIIE MOUSE HEAD THAT HAS TRAVELED WITH ME STUDIO TO STUDIO, and the cooperation and willingness of my friend Venus, we ventured into the night and pulled into the vacant parking lot in the late hours of a Wednesday Evening for a photoshoot.

My art practice HAS led me in many directions and mediums, but my first Pursuit as an artist was Storytelling through my photography. there is something mystical about capturing light and freezing a moment in time. I was once told that I did not need to pursue video (although I have) because I was able to tell a story In a single frame. My photography has inspired Men to TRAVEL TO EXOTIC DESTINATIONS, HAS BEEN CRITIQUED IN COURTROOMS AND USED AGAINST ME, AND is coveted and displayed prominently by my gracious collectors.

It took a lifetime for me to understand what this work means. Although I found its title a few years ago, its meaning wasn’t clear until now.

dis·il·lu·sion·ment - /ˌdisəˈlo͞oZHənm(ə)nt/

A feeling of Disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be.