With an unflinching eye and a documentarian acuity, Eric Edward Esper captures disasters from the past in his artwork.; not from a morbid preoccupation with tragedy, but out of intellectual curiosity. From disaster comes knowledge. Through his startling paintings Eric shines a light on the fragility of life through the perspective of history.

Capturing parts of the city's landscape during its cultural evolution has been Esper's way of conveying history as a painter. The artists fascination with landscapes and history has led Esper to create oil paintings of scenes that have affected us in dramatic ways. Recently he has begun painting aerial views of locations that have interesting historical significance, encapsulating true stories that are hard to imagine and harder to forget. Esper's latest paintings capture these places and depicts them with historically accurate attention to detail. Using every available source: historical photographs, archived newspapers and film, written histories, found diaries, he recreates these scenes by submerging himself in the event. With a focus on technology, innovation and the rise of urban life, Esper shows how the cityscape became the backdrop for tragedy and calamity. These events that irrevocably altered so many lives are important to remember. not only to remind us that disaster can occur at anytime and anywhere. but also to honor the loss of life and ultimately to remember that from disaster comes change.