When I think about the world, I think about how very large and very small it is at the same time. We are hundreds of millions of bodies walking around having very different experiences, yet very much the same. We live our lives inside shells that prevent us from ever really experiencing closeness. Think about the stranger behind you in the grocery store, or the girl next to you at lunch. Our society has taught us to build walls between each other keeping one another at a distance. This semester I have been exploring what happens when we confront these walls and stick our fingers through the cracks that are made.

I began the semester collecting items from a multitude of people, items often regarded as trash. I wanted to unify these items into single iconic images as a way to show how communal we are; how, although we live our lives inside our own skin, most experiences are shared. Each found object had its own story and place, but was also part of a larger picture. While I liked the artworks that resulted- I felt I wasn't actually confronting the issueas directly as I might.

I wanted to create artworks that actively removed barriers between. I placed a box in the campus center and asked people to submit anonymous letters to someone from anyone. In anonymity, people were able to speak their mind free from the restraint of being attached to their words. Many of the letters were similarin theme, illustrating the type of things that go consciously unsaid to one another. I started thinking about why it was we censor ourselves. In part, I realized it was largely a matter of self protection; a way to save urselves from rejection, whether emotionally or physically.

My exploration into social barriers took a new turn in the last part of the semester. I wanted to put a face to these stranger, to see what would happen if I confronted my own fears and broke the barriers between myself and others.. I went out to centers of daily life (grocery stores, gas stations, bars, parks) and purposely met and talked tostrangers. My final artworks this semester are a series of portraits of these people. Portraits mapping the way these people make me