"New Yorker from the 1920's*"

*Inspired by a photo of Carole Lambard

(collage and oil painting on glass, 11X14, 2009)

"Any time three New Yorkers get into a cab without an argument, a bank has just been robbed."
Phyllis Diller

I grew up in a city - Kiev (or Kyiv). For me it's the most beautiful, the most perfect city in the world. The love I feel for my city makes me understand how New Yorkers feel about theirs. I used to have the same pride when telling people where I was from.

Frankly, for a while I assumed that all other non-Kiev dwelling people were boring and provincial. Some of them indeed were, but my friends and I chose to make fun of all of them, judging them by a few 'funny' ones we have encountered in our short lives. We made fun of their Ukrainian accents when they spoke Russian and of their outfits. Feeling superior at least to somebody appeared like a good emotion for a kid to have.

My sentiment changed once my father bought a summer house in a country side. I realized that people in a tiny village where I spent my summers from then on were truly genuine and amazingly kind. When I came to the U.S. I was hardly surprised to find out that the same is true for Americans who live in small towns. What I still have a hard time understanding is a fact that many grown-up city dwellers still feel superior to people in small towns. I outgrew my prejudices when I was ten, why can't they open their minds and realize that they have absolutely nothing to feel superior about? So theyw live in a city... Big deal!