Dear Stranger

The concept for this piece comes from a true story. After buying a diary from a flea market, I was inspired to find a relative of the author to return the diary to their family. This scene represents the research it took to accomplish that.

On the spiral notebook to the left, there is a list of birthdays that were mentioned throughout the diary, which were marked with the flags. One of those dates led to an obituary online, which revealed the name of the author and provided contact information for a relative.

On the scratch pieces of paper on the desk, there are notes about who the author might be and a rough draft of the email attempt to get it touch with the relative.

The photograph on the wall is a glimpse into the real events, when the author’s relative came to pick up the diary in person.