Saad Baldawi by Chia Hsuan Kuo:

Saad Baldawi was a co-worker of mine when I worked at the Art Students League of New York as a porter in the maintenance department. He was one of the very few people I had become friends with when I moved to the US to study sculpture. Even though he spoke very little English he shared with me his stories of his life in Iraq. The stories were always about wars and battles and how he came to the US to seek asylum, but somehow he told them with such positive energy. One day I noticed his damaged index finger and I asked him about it. He stood up and mimed the motion of a bomb landing and exploding near him. Then he smiled at me. He never spoke of it again.

Portrait of an Actor by Maia Williamson:

When sculpting this portrait, I pondered how knowing one’s own beauty is often seen as an indiscretion. However, it is nearly impossible to not consider the way we are perceived by the world. With this portrait, I could sense the model’s belief in his own beauty. I could feel the power that it can give their profession and the vanity that comes with it.