Well, anyway, the answer lies in here somewhere, if you choose to take the time to delve in, explore, and connect with my story and with me - that child of migrants.

Nonetheless, I continue to mentally consign people and spaces to the states of either nostalgia or anticipation, as I ready myself to migrate from Smethwick to Montreal. Where I move from the past to the future in search of another place like home.

I will subvert and revise my narrative as time continues. As, much like myself, this narrative will be in a constant state of flux. How else can one examine the metaphysical concept of belonging if not through the prism of flux and uncertainty?

That said, if indeed our connections to the world and our feelings of belonging are never fixed, never resolved, and always being reassessed, why should our narratives pretend to be fixed and resolved?

In this light, my ‘mental spaces’ are shaped by and entwined to, the physical spaces, and those friends and strangers alike, who I have encountered within them and who've shared with me their thoughts on belonging. In often melancholy ways, shaped by stories from their past. Indeed, upon taking the portraits, I have asked people to think about what belonging means to them. It's odd how so many drift off into a world of their own as the intangible thoughts appear to become real.

Subjectivity and space are explored in this work, in ways which solicit the active participation of the audience, as users are not only encouraged to respond and reflect upon my images and texts but also actively use them within their narratives.

Life is a meandering journey, found somewhere in-between the two fixed points of cradle and grave, belonging is found in there somewhere, of course. But where, to what, and to whom it is assigned is for you to determine and for you to share.

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Andrew Jackson