アレックスストリーターさんのインスタグラム写真 - (アレックスストリーターInstagram)「“I grew up on on West 83rd street, back when the West side was a very different place. We were situated on the border between the uniformed doorman of glamorous apartments on Central Park West and disputed territory between the Royal Bishops and the Pink Scorpions - just south of the dreaded Warlocks of Harlem. We roamed the streets freely - our only protection was a bop in our walk, a turned up collar and an attitude. Much of my artistic inspiration comes from that time, days spent with my brothers darting in and out of the Metropolitan Museum as we planned secret escape routes through the Egyptian Wing into the depths of Central Park. It was there I saw Queen Nefertiti’s necklace, the inspiration for the Fly collection, and the Arms & Armory department which greatly influenced my medieval series. Another special Museum that looms in my memory is the Museum of the American Indian, a darkened and largely forgotten tomb on 155th Street. Inside was the largest collection in the world of leather war jackets, beautiful patterned baskets and turquoise jewelry, with a special corner dedicated to the war club of the warrior Red Cloud. We were saddened when the collection was broken up by the federal government and moved to Washington DC. The darkened rooms and dangerous neighborhood made for a mystical presence and an indelible memory. The Wild West held a particular fascination for me as a child, which manifested in silver form through my later carvings of cow skulls, feathers, bolo ties and boot tips. My heroes were Hopalong Cassidy, the Cisco Kid, and of course Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys with his horse Trigger. Trigger would steal Roy’s handkerchief from his back pocket, and take a bow in the spotlight at the end of each Madison Square Garden show. I followed Roy’s Cowboy Code of Honor to a T - I wore Durango boots, and carried a giant .44 caliber toy pistol that became my proudest possession. The saddest day was when my mother told me I was too old to carry a toy handgun… About 60 years later some dear friends gifted me another toy version of that same pistol, which now hangs in my living room next to my Buffalo Skull and my cowboy hats…”」4月12日 0時09分