Split Smile (2026, New York) distills the portrait into a clean split: two faces joined at a sharp central seam, like one expression folding into another. On the left, a wide spiral eye with heavy lashes sits inside a square frame, the cheek softened by a small wavering mark; on the right, a calmer eye floats above a blocky, mask-like mouth that pushes forward in firm planes. Thick, confident strokes turn the head into bold wedges and an extended brow that reaches outward, giving the face a charged, emblem-like presence.
The contrast between the two halves feels deliberate, one side expressive and exposed, the other controlled and guarded. Minimal lines carry a lot of character: the jagged edge of the seam, the cropped jaw, and the curved base that reads like a quiet support. It is a portrait of dual attention, two ways of seeing and speaking held together, unresolved but balanced.
Printed on museum-quality matte paper sourced from Japan.
