Like so much of my work, this series was inspired by my mother, a classical concert pianist devoted to her craft. Growing up, I can recall her practicing 6 hours a day, the sound of the metronome, and being ripped from her arms crying when she had to go on stage to perform. She took care of my brother and me as a single mother, so I grew to feel like the composers of the pieces she played were my father figures, especially the Romantics like Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Liszt. These things made me want to explore themes of perfectionism and bondage in femininity and classical music.

I'm constantly looking back to understand the present. During quarantine, I was focused on recital portraits of my mother at the same age as her twin piano students, who i've been photographing regularly over the past few years. I was interested in the restlessness that comes with that age in relation to the restlessness and existential dread of these times.

I felt like the word "Recital" spoke to the ritualistic practice of one's craft and the performance such a title would suggest both literally and symbolically.