Existing as an interplay between light and its opposite, Likeness of an Allegory (2021) is a site-specific ceiling installation commissioned for the City of Minneapolis. A monolithic light field from above produces an evenly lit ambient surface, providing a canvas upon which an austere sculptural relief emerges as viewers traverse the lobby below. In total, over 40 silhouettes are anamorphically projected and carved out of this solid mass from a multitude of vantage points; the whole can never be comprehended at once. The visible result is beguiling and severe.

Building on allegorical subtexts, the sculpture takes inspiration and cues from Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s The Allegory of Good and Bad Government (1339), a series of three fresco panels located in the council chambers of the Republic of Siena's Palazzo Pubblico, Italy. 

The scenes within these frescoes served as a constant reminder of the economic, communal and social effects of governance - both good and bad - that laid upon the shoulders of the elected representatives who officiated from within its council walls.

Developed simultaneously with A Rake’s Progress and the Monument Against Time (CJoA 12, After), Likeness of an Allegory can be seen as both a companion work and as an extension conceptually and formally.

Whereas the Rake’s protagonist portends its presence solely via the projection of its shadow, Likeness’s constitution is composed entirely of light and its complete absence. While the Rake’s monolithic specter never reveals itself and is only rendered legible via the artifact of its shadow, the content of Likeness lies precisely in what is not present: what is missing.