Closer is the second work in a trilogy of self-portraits developed as a form of introspection and self-analysis. The work emerged from a period in which I had suppressed many things I wanted to express. Having struggled with communication and avoidance, I conceived the figure as an eternal scream—the physical expression of having so much to say while remaining silent.

The face and body are pushed to a point of extreme tension, translating this internal accumulation into a physical gesture. The polychromy reinforces the intensity of the expression and distinguishes the work from a conventional portrait. The sculpture was also informed visually by Bernini’s Anima Dannata and Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s The Yawner, particularly in their exploration of expressive self-portraiture.