Titled after a line from Simon and Garfunkel’s song America — “Michigan seems like a dream to me now” — this series of portraits explores Michigan as a microcosm of a deeply divided nation. Since the 2016 election, I’ve drawn people from across the state, inviting each sitter to share their hopes, fears, beliefs, and motivations — including how and why they voted.
Each portrait is both personal and collective: an intimate likeness paired with the voice of the individual, but also part of a larger narrative about identity, belonging, and fracture in contemporary America. Together, these works form a layered portrait of Michigan itself — a state that contains, within its borders, so many of the tensions and dreams of the country as a whole.
