Artist Statement

Let me introduce you to Calvin, Bill, John, Kevin, Janet…
Some call them “homeless.”  They are not “homeless;”
rather,
they make their homes on the streets.
These portraits work to portray not only their
facial features, but also their emotions, characters,
and human qualities.
My eyes have always sought beauty,
and I have found it here
on the streets, in these people. 

I always begin by working from life; the relationships
I form on the streets inspire me, and are in fact
the essence of my work.
Collage furthers my exploration of these people
because
each item
and scrap specifically signifies the person
it helps depict.
Using a variety of media, I attempt to tell
pieces of their stories,
pieces of their personalities,
pieces of their lives—because
it is they who have added such depth to my own. 

This work is not about the homeless condition,
but about the human condition.
It asks the viewer to try to understand
the misunderstood,
to hear the silenced, and most of all,
to embrace those who are regularly rejected
as disposable
and admire them as valuable individuals.
I invite you to experience the intimacy of
our connections.
In getting to know them—if at first only through
their faces—I challenge you to look
past their state of “homelessness,”
and seek to understand the realities of our fellow
human beings. 

Because it is with them, despite their lack of shelter,
that I find myself most at home.