The fact that I included a human heart in this painting is particularly curious to me. I decided to include it on a whim on November 17, 1995, which turned out to be only a few short days before the unexpected and fatal heart attack suffered by Russian pairs skater, Sergei Grinkov on November 20.

The news of his death shocked me even though, due to a lack of a television in both '88 and '94, I had never even heard of the Grinkov and Gordeeva team. My childhood obsession with the Bolshoi Ballet and the fact that I was almost the exact same age as Sergei may have had something to do with the feeling the news of his death aroused in me. In any case I have since "caught up" in my knowledge of this pair, and I feel great admiration for Ekaterina Gordeeva who, I understand, has begun a brilliant career as a soloist.