In America’s current climate of divisiveness and moral outrage, how does one respond with something more lasting than a tweet? How do we stand up for the powerless, counter folly with wisdom, and honor those who are often marginalized or vilified?

In my own quiet way, these images are my response.

Over several months, I listened to and learned from the people I photographed. And I had to ask myself: What do I — a hetero, cisgender, middle-class white man — have to say about lives so different from mine? Transgender individuals. Muslim women. Latina farmworkers. Young Black men. Native Americans.

In the end, what stayed with me was a simple but profound truth: we are all human. We all belong here. Each person has a rightful place in the beloved community.

These portraits are a celebration of identity, history, and quiet courage, using traditional symbolism and iconographic language. In spite of its religious undertones, iconography remains a powerful way of speaking about things we care deeply about, and consider beautiful and sacred.  This type of language is acutely needed today.

By taking the time to know and respect one another — to truly listen — something shifts. These works are rooted in that belief: that love can outshine fear, ignorance, and hate. That connection can transcend difference.

Crafted from layers of gold and wax, wood and paper, ink and paint, each piece is a fusion of material and meaning — many parts creating a unified whole. E pluribus unum.

These people are my brother and sister, my father and mother, my friend. They glow from the inside out. As artist Michael Golz once wrote, “The subject of the icon is a person transfigured by...love.”

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Each of these pieces is a 24×36″ photo-encaustic assemblage.  They are composed of metal leaf, gold leaf, paint, ink, and paper, on a cradled 1.5″ wood panel. 

Many thanks to the Pine Meadow Ranch Residency program for their part in bringing this project to life.

Please click each image to enlarge, and show titles and description of a few of the many symbolic details layered into each piece.