LA Art Show 2025

Here's an in-depth re-cap of my experiences being the featured photographer for Slice of Light Gallery at the LA Art Show.

Aerial view of our booth, seen towards in the top center. ©LA Art Show

Monday, February 17th: That morning I rented a U-haul van and then met up with Garrett (Gallery Manager) at the Gallery to load up the prints packed up by Carter (Print Shop Assistant) and hanging hardware supplies such as french cleats, drill, screws, dolly, gloves, tape measure, bubble level, all kinds of tape, and much more. 

LA Convention Center as seen from our hotel rooms at Moxy

After making a couple stops to load up our personal gear and show attire, we drove from Santa Barbara straight to our hotel, Moxy Downtown LA. Breanna (Operations Manager) chose this hotel due to cost and location to the Convention Center. It was extremely convenient (only a four minute walk to the Center) but...we all agreed after meeting up the next day...this hotel is definitely a "form-over-function" kinda place...I'm talking little to no storage, no bathroom privacy, weird fixtures, dim lighting...If you're a twenty-something night-life enthusiast, one or two nights would be perfect. But we were booked for a whole week. Next time, we might go with the AC hotel instead (which is connected to the Moxy). 

Tuesday, February 18th: Day 1 of Move-In

I met up with Garrett and Breanna in the hotel lobby downstairs. We spent a minute or two checking out the free arcade game, then got breakfast at the conveniently located Bluestone Lane coffee shop. After that, we walked to the Convention Center and checked out our booth and our competition (our friendly booth neighbors). 

We just got to the booth and are planning how to unload the prints.

Once we were satisfied with how we found everything, I went back to the hotel to pick up the van from the hotel valet and made the arduous journey to the Convention Center (I'm half joking--it's extremely close, but the loading dock zone was already packed and there was a lot of waiting...). 

Once I got a parking spot, unloading began. That's when we realized we should have brought along more than one dolly...It took a couple hours to get everything unloaded, just due to how much walking was involved and how few prints we could bring at a time. Soon after everything was present at our booth, we started to measure out placement of pieces...we quickly realized 1) we had no pencils and 2) we had no way to install the large pieces! We had forgotten to bring a ladder...

So I made a "quick" trip to Home Depot to pick up a step ladder, carpenter's pencils, and some water. Garrett and Breanna were already improvising, using the different colored tapes in lieu of pencils to mark where the prints would be positioned. After I got back, I started installing the French cleats.

I meticulously measure how far from the center of the French cleat the screw will sit.

A candid clip of me and Breanna unwrapping Elephant's Trunk.Garrett captured the exact moment I realized I had installed the French cleat upside down  😑How the booth looked after Move-In Day 1.  After a hard day's work, we got linner at the Lazy Dog (also conveniently located) and planned out day two of Move-In. 

Wednesday, February 19th: Move-In Day 2

It would be up to the two of them to complete most of the remaining installations, as I had an important Zoom meeting planned for that morning: It was my first official meeting with the UCLA Galactic Center Group. We mainly discussed how funds would be re-allocated with the impending federal budget cuts. 

I returned as quickly as I could to help with the remaining installations, but once I got there I relaxed. Only the really big pieces that required all three of us to hang were left, and that took only an hour or so to complete. 

The only thing that went "wrong": Our would-be star-of-the-show, DWB 111/Double Helix stainless steel hand-ground print (which weighed about 80 pounds or more), was terribly lit! We rang for the electricians last minute to try and reconfigure the lights, but no matter what they did, the piece didn't sparkle like it should have. I figured that it really needed to be lit from the ground, or from some level distance, not just from above. And the Show managers were strict with lighting--there was nothing we could do.

The booth is ready for visitors!

Wednesday, February 19th: Opening Night Premiere

After a three hour break, the three of us met back up at the booth in our formal attire, feeling refreshed and excited for the premiere. We took some time to explore the other booths, the free buffet and bar, the VIP section, and the photo ops before the doors opened to VIP guests. 

Breanna and I post for a photo op.

Once it hit 6:00 pm, we were focused. Here's some of the most common questions we were asked:

• "Are these photographs?"
• "Are these from the James Webb Telescope?"
• "How do you do that?" and
• "What am I looking at?"

And here are the most common comments:

• "Awesome work"
• "I've never seen anything like this"
• "These are beautiful" and
• "One of the best things I've seen all day"

Hard at work during the Opening Night Premiere.

I tested to see if it was better for me to not be at the booth versus stick around. Garrett and Breanna reported we seemed to get more people when I wasn't there. We weren't sure why...possibly how I look? Three's a crowd? We would need to do more testing in the following days. 

Among multiple crowds, we were visited by our VIP guests.

Me, our VIP guest Marguerita and her plus-one, and Garrett.Our VIP guests Andrea Ghez and Megan Kissinger (wish I had gotten a better photo).

We ended the night with a sale of Luna Dunes. 🎉🍾Also the security personnel stopped by our booth and asked if our postcards were free because they kept stopping guests upon departure asking if they paid for that "art". We clarified that the postcards were free handouts and they took a picture of the array and left. 

Wrapping up the night, Garrett and Breanna reported how much better it would be if we had an image or two of me with my telescopes displayed, in the hopes that visitors (especially those who took one glance at the booth and moved on) would reconsider assuming these photographs were from NASA or Hubble or the Webb. 

Thursday, February 20th: 

Thursday was probably the slowest day, not just for us but for every exhibitor. Garrett and Breanna attended the exhibitor breakfast and networked with other exhibitors. One tip they got was to prominently display the Gallery's Instagram QR code on the laptop; something about it being digital rather than printed out on a square piece of cardstock was more inviting...and as the show progressed...it seemed to work! 

I spent some time looking at other booths' layouts and seeing if they were doing anything better than us. Breanna made a quick trip to FedEx (also conveniently located) to pick up some last-minute infographics about me and the telescopes. That also seemed to help out a lot.

Here's a pic from that day:

A typical crowd enjoys the unexpected art at the show.

I had to leave early that night because I had dinner reservations with Andrea Ghez and Megan Kissinger--quite a riveting discussion! Andrea was eager to share her new findings on the bizarre movement of stars close to the event horizon of the black hole at the center of our Milky Way!

Alas, while I was away, not only did I miss the opportunity to greet my brother Rob, I also missed the chance to meet the Dana Patchick and his wife Marlena! 😭 According to Garrett and Breanna, he was impressed with the details I was able to capture in Ouroboros, and he really liked how I made Andromeda Beseeches Perseus starless. He also gave us some intel on a new discovery of his: the Zombie Star, and encouraged me to photograph it.

Friday, February 21st: 

Friday was more busy than Thursday. We got a lot of repeat questions, as expected. Here's a couple videos capturing the typical reaction to "Yes, these are real photographs" and "These are not from NASA or Hubble or the Webb" 😆: 

Typical reactions to being told these are real photos and they are not from NASA

Typical reactions to being told these are real photos and they are not from NASA

 

Saturday, February 22nd:

In the morning I had breakfast with Garrett and Breanna and their parents, who had driven up to see them at the show. 

Later on, our VIP guests Eric States, his wife Julie, their son Jeffrey States, and Jeffrey's girlfriend visited our booth. Eric is the Gallery's printer, based in Goleta, and Jeffrey does the local deliveries and installations. Jeffrey declined a photo, but here's me and Eric.

Me and Eric in front of Birth, Balance, Death.

Eric and I lamented over the poorly lit DWB 111/Double Helix piece, and he agreed it really needed the lights to be placed further out and/or on the floor, both impossible to do at the show. We told Eric to check out Havoc Gallery, only a couple booths over from ours, because the head honcho over there, Bruce, also does custom hand-ground art. 

Eric came back to our booth to report that Bruce was really cool and they exchanged contact info.

Midday, I happily obliged to do an interview for YouTuber Vexxet.

Some cool action shots of my interview with Vexxet

Later that night my older sister Carey stopped by the booth. She had just been to the Frieze show at the Santa Monica Airport, so I asked her how it went and if my work would be an ideal fit. She thought about it and said I wasn't quite there yet. 

Towards the end of the night, Breanna and I stopped by Abend Gallery's booth to inspect the layout, as I saw earlier that they had a really interesting set up. Breanna had brought her writing tablet and was inspecting the design and drawing it, and I'm sure we looked a bit intimidating, so we introduced ourselves to the manager David Ethridge. He was very friendly and open about how he does his floor plans and told us to reach out for any advice in the future.

Sunday, February 23rd: Last day of the show

Garrett and Breanna were off doing reconnaissance at the Frieze Show and had asked me to take care of the booth, so for most of the morning and afternoon I manned the booth solo. 

When they got back, we took turns at the booth; by now it seemed to us that having more than two of us at the booth was a deterrent.

Sunday was the second busiest day besides the Opening Night Premiere. We had a lot of interested persons and towards the very end of the night, we sold my brand new image Deep Sky I: Ophiuchus 🍾🎉. It had been delivered from Eric just a day before the Show began.

Deep Sky I: Ophiuchus

At the show's closure at 6:00 PM sharp, the whole vibe of the Convention Center changed: back to the sounds of hammers, drills, plastic wrap, back-up beeps from forklifts, and chatter amongst the exhibitors and move-out crews. It was an exhausting night...We finished moving out everything by 9:00 PM. The three of us then made a quick stop back at the hotel to change into comfier clothes, and then had a celebration dinner at the tried and true Lazy Dog Restaurant, where we discussed what went well, what could be improved, and booth layout ideas for next year's show.