Artist Statement: My piano "Please Play" is created with recycled materials and is a celebration of New York City, its architecture, and its wonderfully diverse population and how we all play together. Sculpted and painted cityscapes adorn the piano and set the environment for guests to play with and position the hand twisted Paper People that I make. The Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge and a tribute to Tar Beach, what New Yorkers call the roof tops, are among the dioramas for guests to interact with. My goal was to make sure that even if you don't know how to play the piano you could still play with the piano. So, "Please Play".
Nick Stavrides was born in Washington Heights in the late 60s and resides in New York City/Hell’s Kitchen today. A self-trained painter, Stavrides embraces the art of different tribes and cultures which gives his work a primitive quality. He draws inspiration by walking the concrete canyons and observing New Yorkers in their daily rhythms and the architecture of the streets and all its landscapes large and small.
