Each reflection of myself echoes a different emotion at me – 20 Heroes from the City of Roses

The first project using self-made ceramic figurines as models for lens-based images; a nine-month long-term/long-distance project based on anonymous interviews taken in 2012 with 20 homeless and transitional youth in Portland /Oregon and some of the staff working with them through the organization p:ear (http://pearmentor.org).

The participants answered questions in written questionnaires about their personal history, daily lifestyle, and special experiences (only street names or invented names were given), describing their looks (with the option of also creating an imaginary alter ego), and their favourite surrounding. Based on these clay figures were created, placed in settings that would most effectively represent the described surroundings, and photographed.

All figures in this project are wearing bunny-ears as a symbol for human naivety and false hope, but also courage and strong will, developed during a research year at SEIKA University of Art in Japan in 2008/09.

The photographs were exhibited together with the interview texts, as well as published online.

TO READ THE INTERVIEW-TEXTS PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE-THUMBNAILS.

Basha painted looking at me

Basha painted looking at me (20) “I originally began supporting myself at 15 or 16, but worked full time and wasn’

Charlie painted and one-legged man

Charlie (21) “I moved out at the age of 18 and moved to Portland, Oregon. I’m 21 now and before I was on the stree

Basha like the crescent moon

Each reflection of myself echoes a different emotion at me – 20 Heroes from the City of Roses

Chico King painted smoking a joint with chrysalis

Chico King (16) “Well, it was my choice, because I don’t really get along with my mom, so I made the choice to lea

King of Fire

Basha painted hanging out with her friends at the bluffs

Basha (20) “I originally began supporting myself at 15 or 16, but worked full time and wasn’t homeless. I moved to

Claire painted walking the ostrich

Claire (59) “I didn’t live on the streets. I graduated from high school at 17 and left home due to “irreconc

Beasley painted dreams of soaring into the clouds

Beasley (21) “I became a follower of my peers and friends. I hardly had any opinions of my own. I had this image of what

The Coon painted with Sun Wukong on the bridge

The Coon (21) “I had a job and an apartment. I thought I was doing pretty well. Then at basically the same time I lost m

Beasley painted soaring along the train tracks in a dream

Beasley (21) “I became a follower of my peers and friends. I hardly had any opinions of my own. I had this image of what

Charlie painted and the four-legged woman

  Charlie (21) “I moved out at the age of 18 and moved to Portland, Oregon. I’m 21 now and before I was on th

Fair Pony painted

Cassi & A.J. painted in front of the library riding into the sky

Cassi (25) “I had a job as a lube tech for about 5 months when I fell into a depression and quit my job. I then tried m

Cookie painted meets the White Buffalo

Cookie (20) “My father and I lived on a Native American reservation and to make money he had me cook and sell meth and t

Stephanie painted standing on the dune

Stephanie (30) “I try to make people’s life easier. But I like being a supportive actor; it makes me feel useful a

Stephanie painted on a dune watching

Stephanie (30) “I try to make people’s life easier. But I like being a supportive actor; it makes me feel useful a

Chuck painted sitting on his desk in his office

Chuck (44) “I am a man in the United States. With my girlfriend of 21 years, I own more of the value of our green house

Sky painted taking pictures in the park

Sky (24) “I do not live on the streets. I volunteer at p:ear with students that do. I live in NorthWest Portland and sha

Peter painted sitting with his friends

Peter (21) “So… I smoked a lot of pot in high school, my stepdad was a cop, I got kicked out – I used variou

Michael as a tree painted with Blackbeard the cat

  Michael (21) “I had complications with financial aid. I lived with my mom until about 20, she paid my rent for ne

Wood Spirit

Ox painted drumming No.2

Ox (23) “I left because of an alcoholic step dad and fighting.  Basically I just stay out of trouble.  I’M A DRU

NaNa painted hugging a lizard

NaNa (23) “When I was 16 I got pregnant with my daughter. I first moved to California to live with my mother and finish

Pippa painted dreaming of the ocean and whales

  Pippa (39) “I don’t live on the street, but work with those that do. When I was a teenager, however, I dressed

Ladybug painted waiting in the cafe

  Ladybug (23) “I’m pregnant.”   *LADYBUG HAD A TRAUMATIC MISCARRIAGE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AFTER THIS

Ladybug painted leaving the cafe

  Ladybug (23) “I’m pregnant.”   *LADYBUG HAD A TRAUMATIC MISCARRIAGE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AFTER THIS

Kathryn painted standing by a wall

Kathryn (23) “My mother passed away, my father was abusive. My friends got sick of me, I moved to Portland, nowhere to l

Koala painted and butterfly

Koala (18) “Starting at a young age I was very neglected, kind of just along for the ride, being pushed back and forth b