Someone Special Sleeps Here is the project I made for my senior thesis in college for my BA in Writing from Eugene Lang College. I was also earning my BFA in illustration from Parsons School of Design at the same time, so the two mediums unsurprisingly intertwined in much of my work (as they still do).

Essentially, SSSH is a collection of original poetry and drawings that are heavily influenced by what was going on in my life at the time. I was living alone in Jersey City, finishing up my last year at the New School where I was completing 2 degrees, and feeling stranded and lonely after Hurricane Sandy hit and heavily limited transportation to and from the city where my school and friends were. I was also torn between wanting to enjoy the freedom of my early twenties, and wanting to be with my family in Philadelphia, where my mom was sick with ovarian cancer.

I designed the book and had it printed locally — a limited edition of 50 books, made up of 56 black and white pages, with a linen cover.

There are a few copies left on my shelf. Sometimes I flip through it and I’m brought back to that time in limbo.