Ideas that I was exploring in this piece (and series of work) include relationship, family, identity, and connection. I see the circles as characters, and am interested in how we preset ourselves to others and what we shield or protect. Other concerns include structures, patterns, wholeness, the metaphoric holes inside us, and how to make absence visible. I tend to be a "more is more" painter, but in this piece I was trying to pare down the elements to only the essential.