If I have to name my favorite painter, it would be Edward Hopper. I still remember it was mid June 2016, the first time I saw one of his paintings. I was scrolling through social media and I stumbled upon “Nighthawks”, one of the best paintings I’ve ever seen. I never felt such a solidarity in loneliness as when I looked at that painting. It fills me with a sort of comfortable melancholy.

In the “Nighthawks” you’ll see a diner in the middle of the night with only four patrons in it. Three customers, and one employee. We can see that the patrons are separated from each other. The guy on the left are sitting alone, isolating himself from the others. The man and woman in the middle seem to know each other. But they could also be stranger judging by their face and emotion. The most interesting thing about the nighthawks is it makes the viewer feels trapped outside. Although we can clearly see inside the diner, the viewers are isolated from the patrons inside the diner. We can only see the diner from across the street. We can’t experience what happened inside the diner.

For me, his paintings evoke the same kind of feeling and memories, it is loneliness. If we look at his arts, nearly all of them are about loneliness, alienation, voyeurism and contemplation. Hopper’s character often depicted as lonely, and maybe a little bored. For example the men and women in Sunday (1926), The Automat (1927), Eleven AM (1926), Morning Sun (1952), Gas (1940), and Office at Night (1940) all have the same vibes. Despite their “stage” is filled with bright and warm light they seems kinda lonely and alienated.

The vibes that I get from Hopper painting’s remind me of the modern world we live in today. The perks of living in the world with advance communication technology is that we can connect with so many people from across the globe. Through a technology called social media, we can see other people’s activity in real time. What are they doing. What did they do yesterday. What music did they listen to. What are their favorite movies, what do they have for dinner and so on and so fort.

Our personal life that was previously tightly closed can now be easily seen by others without any hindrance. Just like watching a person inside his house through a large transparent window. Their life/activity/privacy can be easily penetrated using Apps in our smartphone. If we can see other’s easily, it means they also can see us.

In some of Hopper’s works, it seems like he made the windows vanished or invisible. He makes us see the character clearly. We can see what the characters are doing and what kind of emotion shows on their faces. And the idea that we can see other’s life clearly (and vice versa), makes us somehow vulnerable.

Social media creates an illusion that it seems like we already know someone else behind the our smartphone screen, even though there is no deeper relationship. We only know the name, face, and what that person is doing. Not only through social media, life in densely populated urban areas can also evoke the feeling of loneliness.

Urban loneliness: How crowded and yet isolated life could be in the city.

No mater how many people surround you if you can’t share deeper connections with them you’ll feel lonely. Feeling lonely when you are alone is normal. But feeling lonely when you surrounded by people is extremely discomforting.

“Nighthawks” makes me feel vulnerable yet cozy at the same time. Because somehow I feel familiar with the situation. I often find myself sitting in a crowded café holding my cup of cappuccino. No books, no laptop, just me drinking my warm cappuccino and enjoying the crowded café atmosphere. Strangely, even in that crowded café somewhat I feel lonely.

In my defense, I know I’m not the only one who happened to experience it. I know many of us also have experienced it. And you know what? It is neither strange nor shameful for experiencing loneliness. Instead of escaping the loneliness, I think we should embrace it. Because we all know too well it also happens to everybody else.

We all are sharing a drink we call loneliness, and it’s better than drinking it alone.