Illusory Twins

Riverside, Calif. 2024

Illusory Twins is a still life piece that captures the essence of Gemini through the use of mirrored mannequin heads, representing the sign’s duality and complex nature. The image plays with reflection and symmetry, creating a sense of connection between the two figures while also highlighting their individuality. The warm, golden light that bathes the scene adds a layer of warmth and intimacy, yet the lifelike, inanimate nature of the mannequins introduces a subtle tension between reality and illusion.

As a metaphor for Gemini, "Illusory Twins" explores the idea of duality—how two aspects of the same entity can be both connected and distinct. Gemini is known for its multifaceted personality, capable of seeing and embodying multiple perspectives simultaneously. This piece reflects that complexity, inviting viewers to consider the interplay between self and other, the seen and the unseen, and how these dualities coexist within us. Note that only one light source was used for this photograph, and thanks to the use of the mirror, the viewer gets to see both the lit and “dark” side of the mannequin head (Her name is Oxana).

The mirrored mannequins symbolize Gemini’s ability to reflect and adapt, often showing different sides depending on the situation. The title, "Illusory Twins," suggests that what we see may not always be the whole truth, echoing Gemini’s skill at navigating both the surface and deeper layers of meaning. This still life serves as a visual exploration of the nuanced and ever-changing nature of Gemini, making it a thoughtful and evocative representation of the sign.

Full disclosure: The photographer is a Gemini (June 2)

Concept

I’ll be honest here: this image came to be while I was in the studio burning off some negative energy. I shot this within a few days of birthday, which is an extremely emotionally charged time. As a matter of fact, the name of the session created for this testing was “Birthday Spiral.”

When I’m doing this type of testing, I often turn to Oxana for assistance. Somehow I never get tired of finding new ways to light her. The mirror came into play as I was trying to mimic a beautiful portrait I had recently scene that had a sort of distorted reflection off the to the side of the subject. I think I ruled out that a normal mirror was used, but I quickly discovered something interesting going on with the mirror I was using. This mirror sheet is actually a piece of acrylic that I use a lot in my work. Its a two-way mirror, meaning (rather counterintuitively) that you can see through one side like a window while the other side appears like a mirror.

What I liked about this is it allowed for both a reflection of Oxana, while a little bit of light would transmit through the mirror, allowing you to see the imperfections in the well-worn and abused acrylic super imposed over the reflection of Oxana.

It’s important to understand that my specific flavor of creativity means that sometimes I create the thing first, and the meaning and symbolism come to me later. I think its a function of being a visual artist. I often need to see at least a little something, so that can fire up the metaphor machine in my brain.

In this particular case, one image just simply jumped out at me as something pretty special. It starts with noticing all the little details. The contrast in light and mood between Dark Oxana and Light Oxana. The small areas where Dark Oxana has perfect rim lighting, and how Light Oxana has almost the inverse of that. It took a few days of obsessively looking at this image on my phone for me to realize what I had was a beautiful metaphor for my own star sign, Gemini.

Above gallery shows some other images from the test session that were marked with 5 stars

Above are four pages of contact sheets from the studio testing session
where this image was made

How to support my work

You can support my work by purchasing a fine art print of Illusory Twins right here