Artist Statement: It seems to me, given the present state of the world, one of art's most fundamental functions, pleasure, should assert itself unapologetically. My edition "Cheer Up" is meant to communicate that idea, simply and directly. The Cheer Up series began as part of a large public commission for The New York Department of Homeless Services for their Emergency Intake Center. I have been asked to create works that would provide productive distraction for recently displaced families.

This particular design was rejected by the oversight committee as being inappropriate for small children. In the realm of the "fine arts" I take that as a good sign. As I've worked with the image over this last year, a girl presenting a maniacally grinning turtle in the streets of Chinatown, I've come to realize I am the turtle and the little girl.

Those are my hands offering you this over-eager little mascot. Hopefully suggesting that all is not lost. As citizens of this great city we have endured some remarkable things in the last ten years, and together, we will survive this. We all need to do our best to Cheer Up.

A note on materials and the working process: Much of my work involves a set of hand-based techniques rooted in the "pre-Macintosh" era of graphic design. This work, which is really a multiple drawing, was designed to use an old material known as Omicron. Omicron is a graphic design comping material that adheres to copy toner when heated. The blue of the turtle is Omicron. Blueprint scale photocopying was used for the over all image, which was then toned with pastel, acrylic paint, and oil pen (the kind graffiti artists use.) The fingernails are backed with artist's grade acid free colored transparent velum, applied in layers to provide depth. Overall, the works materials and style reference commercial illustration, graphic design and graffiti, hopefully amplifying its simple democratic message.

Lane Twitchell's solo exhibitions include Deitch Projects, New York, NY, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., G Fine Arts, Washington D.C., Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, NY, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn NY, University Art Museum, SUNY Albany, Roebling Hall, New York, NY. Group exhibitions include Bronx Museum, NY, Art in General, New York, NY, Artists Space, New York, NY, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT, International Print Center, NY, Paul Morris Gallery, NY, The Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York; Madison Art Center, Madison, WI; Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL, New York Academy of Sciences, New York, NY, White Columns, New York, NY, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY, G-Module, Paris, FR, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C, Whitebox, New York, NY, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, CI, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY.