“What’s the story behind Binary Breakout?” With its 1s and 0s washed in red and yellow, I get asked this a lot. But the answer is bigger than just one painting.

Binary Breakout is part of the larger narrative of the Recollections Series which explores memories — those life fragments, time slices, and emotional snippets that become sum of our lives.

There are so many ways to look at our memories. In Binary Breakout, I took one of my “memory musings” and envisioned the nature of our lives as quite routine — yes/no, left/right, on-off, in/out, go/come, day/night. That’s how the painting started — lines of random but repeating 1s and 0s, black and white, row after row of sameness.  

Don’t you want to escape from the daily routine? I do. I believe that each of us at times wants to break away from the ordinary and find the extraordinary in life. That’s why we plan adventures, stop to breathe in a sunset, and find those astounding moments that inspire and thrill us.

That’s what Binary Breakout captures — one of those high-point experiences, a joyful celebration in time that becomes an enduring memory. The bold red and sunshine yellow celebrate life almost like fireworks exploding across the canvas. Even the paper elements wash the repeating black marks with cobalt blue waves of color.

In the end, our memories are us, and each of us has a unique story to tell through those recollections. Take a look at the entire Recollection Series and the story behind each painting!