“Dancing”
Dan Eldon was always immersed deep within his thick black journals. Whether he was doodling, pasting or writing, Dan processed and pondered life within the pages of his 17 journals that were found after he was killed. Each one gives us a glimpse of his passions and adventures.
“It is foolish and hazardous not to dance in Africa,” Dan wrote in his mission statement. Dancing is a language that all cultures speak. It was a way for him to break down walls when he visited new places and met new people.
Behind the dancing figures in this piece is a colorful New York City skyline. The sky became Dan’s obsession. He was intrigued by the lines of skyscrapers and illustrated them often, but longed for the open spaces of Africa without any tall buildings or traffic lights.
He lived life on safari whether he was traveling through the African jungle or the concrete jungle. Dan moved from Nairobi, Kenya to the foreign land of New York City after graduating high school, but he felt overwhelmed and claustrophobic within this city full of lights, taxis and people.
“Thinking about New York and how many radio waves are going out –music, police cars, taxis, planes.” Dan wrote. “We must absorb and feel the waves. That could explain the feeling one gets when in New York compared to being in Kenya.”