Lincoln After Gardner, 10" x 8.5"
oil on glass, 2008

Alexander Gardner's glass plate negative of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln was accidentally cracked and a line was rendered running through the print. This famous portrait defines its poignancy by presenting the man who took responsibility for preserving the Union as a divided photo.

When considering this photograph today, the image suggests a metaphor for Lincoln's struggle, symbolizing the personal conflicts he faced in bringing together a nation torn by civil war.

Painting Lincoln on glass is a fragile process and the metaphor it might suggest reemphasizes the fragile nature of the principles Lincoln stood for, however, this piece is not broken but it still must be handled delicately.