Ira Stein is a trained artist, a Vietnam veteran, former commercial airline pilot, and a renown jeweler. With such an interesting and varied personal background, his works convey a well-rounded, multi-dimensional and inventive interpretation of the world surrounding us. His sculptures, mixed-media collages, and figurative paintings all provide a glimpse into the psyche of an artist grasping with the notion of genetic essentialism viewed from the perspective of the troubled, the vulnerable, and the erotic nature of the human condition.