Up Close and Dangerous
Color photographic print
16 x 20 inches
1998
Catalog No. 23A

For this exhibition, I also chose to include two photographs which are more direct metaphors for the experience of cancer. Up Close and Dangerous depicts the surface of a cactus with its perfectly menacing display of rhythm and line. The dangerous spikes keep out intruders that might harm the delicate flesh within. In The Red Hat, the person has reached the end of the wall and leans into it for protection and stability. Yet the untraveled desert vista beyond is what holds his focus. It is a hopeful vision -- one journey ends and a new one begins.