An embrace between lovers can alter personal lives in profound ways. I wanted to convey some of the emotion and tension between these. 'Grieving parents' is about an acquaintance who was shot to death close to my home. I tried to imagine, in a visual way, the grief of his parents.

This summer, I was married for an unusually short time. Our honeymoon was spent on a small boat on the Ohio River. My most recent pieces, such as 'handshake & fish', 'true love' and 'underwater embrace' are inspired by this short period of time in my life. In 'Underwater embrace', the two lovers are close, but the fish, native to the Ohio River, represent an ambiguous threat beneath, the way a happy honeymoon preceded unexpected disaster waiting at home. I am planning several larger pieces, using a similar technique and theme.