In 2007-08 I began to explore the figure in profile.  I drew inspiration from the earthy profile portraits of Giuseppi Arcimboldo.  In some cases I started by drawing of the skull and built the portrait from bone outward.  There was something about the series that reminded me of the Vanitas (mortality) still-life paintings.  Even though these are figurative pieces and not still-lives, there is a certain pause of breath and stillness about them,  I was as interested in the environment as I was with the emerging figures. I attempted a near synthesis of the two.  I shifted the focus from a physically recognizable world to one that was more abstract in substance and content.  Here, the environments stabilize a figure that might otherwise seem somewhat lost in thought.  Colors, brushstrokes and textures act as external forces surrounding the introspective figure.  The collage process allowed me to shift and layer varied compositional elements.  While, I have specific ideas about what each figure represents, I hope to invite the viewer’s own experience and thoughts in interpreting the work.