Artist Statement

Life imitates art. Venice 2001 is role games in Saint Mark’s Square. Ancient Venetian waters, modern illusions. Re-living Byzantium’s defeat while slowly sinking into the sea. All is mirage—like the idea that photographs capture time or reality.

For one week in Venice, we exchange the realities of the world for make-believe. These are the faces of Carnival – masked and unmasked – in costumes from other centuries. It’s all part of the charade until Ash Wednesday. Then the masks come down, faces are covered in ash, and Lent begins.