Family Portrait is about my family. There are five of us, my father, my mother, my two brothers and myself. This is how I have arranged us in the piece as it reads from left to right. While juxtaposed in that order, they revealed to me a remarkable story about the relationships we have to one another. I asked my family to send me some discarded cotton clothing. I was living in New York State at the time and my family was in Detroit, Michigan. I told them that I wanted to make a statement about all of us and would need this clothing to make into paper. I also asked them for some of their hair. Before they sent me their clothing and hair, however, I chose a pair of cotton corduroy jeans that I would use to represent me. I did this purposely so I would have no subjective control or influence on the colors utilized in this piece. I used a Hollander beater and made the pulp for my paper as each piece of clothing was sent to me. I had drawn out the arrangement of the piece long before I had ever requested the clothing, so when the pulp was made I began to form the sheets of paper and the parts of my family as it were. It was a two-part process for each person. The first sheet made was the larger sheet. This represented the environment that each of us resided in. The second sheet of paper contained not only the individual person’s clothing, but his hair as well. The smaller piece symbolized each person’s sense of self. I chose to contain the sense of self under glass to protect it from destruction. The larger sheet is exposed, therefore less precious. I wanted to illustrate the human aspect of vulnerability; paper is a vulnerable medium. I wanted to convey the capture of time as photographs do, and the plexiglas will stop some of the erosion that time will eventually produce. Thus each member of the family is represented by a panel comprised of his clothing and his hair, his outer covering, and himself. The true title of this work is Family Portrait: I Cried When I Determined Our Places. I really did cry the night I drew the piece. I still remember that moment vividly. I can picture that moment as clearly as one can believe possible. I continue to feel very close to this work. It says so much about relationships, our relationships as I see them, of course.