The anonymous photographic portrait is a magnificent illusion. Removed from the time and place when the portrait was taken, the answers to who, where, and when are no longer self-evident. Everything can be seen, but nothing can be known.

"What if" is a good question, I think. What if I was taller? Or fatter? Would that make me different inside too? What if I was five years old? A five-year old doesn’t think before acting, they simply do whatever pops into their head. Like kicking in the lake just to see the water splash. What if my body was female, or a horse, or a bird? What if the room I’m in is an illusion and the picture hanging on the wall is real? As delightful as curious exploration may be, however, there is something else that drives me. I want to capture those emotional states that we all have as humans. Moments of being that elude verbal description. How does humor make sadness more poignant? Or sadness give humor more depth?

How can loneliness be so starkly personal and yet utterly universal?
And why does art always have to be so goddamn serious?