Imperfect Imperfections

In a world where perfection is worshipped, imperfect perfections portrays just the opposite. This series sets out to portray just how broken we as humans are. Wounds and scars are physical representations of imperfections. Though we all may not have physical imperfections, we may have internal imperfections. Imperfect perfection depicts this internal/external human conflict. Why should we glorify things that hide who we truly are? 

Scars are physical representations and reminders of our imperfections: indents, perforations, abrasions, and discoloration. Scars are physical reminders that our physical bodies are wasting away. We are but mere mortals. Physical imperfections are much like internal imperfections. They are seen, touched, heard, yet much easier to hide. As humans we must learn how to live and deal with these imperfections.


  • I was walking at night with some friends (we were in middle school.) All of a sudden a high school boy ran towards me, with a knife in his hand, and stabbed me. He ran away. I fell to the ground. Next thing I knew I was at the hospital. It all happened so fast.

  • My Dad and I were driving one evening. All I remember is waking up at the hospital. My Dad told me later that we had gotten into a car accident. The car caught on fire and I was stuck in the passenger seat. He tried to pull me out, while I was on fire. He succeeded in getting me out, just before the car blew up. I was depressed after finding out what happened for a while, but one day I realized I could keep feeling bad for myself, keep crying, or I could stop and get on with life. I have decided to keep going and that there is no point in crying anymore.

  • I recently went to Mexico and came back with white spots, some as large as baseballs, all over my body. The doctor said it is an allergic reaction. I am covered and it is embarrassing. I look diseased.

  • When I was a baby I had a tube protrude out of my throat to keep me alive and breathing. Into adulthood I got two hernia's. I had surgery on my stomach and intestines to remove the two hernias.

  • I was one month old when my mother poured something on me that left me in the hospital for a while. Two years later I was adopted. I left Russia and moved to Israel.

  • Tiny raised extremely red spots covered my body. It started on my chest then spread to the rest of my body: arms, legs, and stomach. They burned and itched, sometimes so much so, that I woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain. When the rashes had gotten worse I ended up in the ER. I had been throwing up for 2-3 hours straight. Four doctors later I ended up at a dermatologist office begging for help. She gasped when she saw my rashes and wanted to send me immediately to the ER again. I refused and instead got put on steroids for a month.

  • I was diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to have the whole breast removed.

  • I was sitting outside the basement doors when all of the sudden the water heater exploded. The fire gushed out of the basement and doors where I was sitting. It happened just about a month before my second birthday. My father and brother were also inside the basement. We all got hit by the fire. My mom was luckily upstairs and able to drive us to the hospital thirty minutes away.

  • Pesach 2012 I took a nap and woke up to a hard balloon like belly. In the summer I ended up at my family doctor and found out that I had a cyst that was blocking my ovaries and uterus. In September they operated and removed my right ovary. Once removed the doctors said I was all clear, cancer free. I am grateful I am cancer free. After my surgery I vividly remember my body trembling, like an earthquake in my body. All the anxiety and stress was shaking off, I was okay. I survived.

Window

Inspired by Aflred Hithcock's film Rear Window this series depicts photographs taken from windows located from one location (my home, at the time, in Long Beach, California) with one subject in mind windows. Inside and outside spaces are disillusioned. (Shot on 35mm film).

Forever Young

The process of aging fascinates me. For this project I wanted to explore how an elderly person goes back to being childlike. I had friends and family ages five to ten and above seventy document their everyday lives and what interest them. This book is my collaboration with them. Collaborating artist include Evie, Carol, Alice, Liberty, Grant, and Jordan. (Display is in original form-- book.)