In my work, I am drawn, both in words and images, to the point of connection between people and animals. What you see with Maria and Rocky, Maria and the donkeys. It is something you can see, a grounding, a point of connection. It happens with dogs, with cats, horses. It is a mission to try and understand it, a gift to sometimes be able to capture it. It is the lost language, the way in which we can truly communicate with these amazing creatures, and not just see them as piteous, dependent and abused beings. They are magnificent in their strength and wisdom, powerful in their healing. At times, Simon, who knows pain and deprivation, simply closes his eyes, and seems to say, in his own way and language, “yes, yes, this is why I am here, this what I am looking for.”