For my Caretaker Study, the first person I thought to portray was my mother. She loves and cares about me and my siblings, it is evident from her poses. In my realistic pose, I am showing my mom in a specific situation. Her face is questioning me, wondering why my siblings and I made a silly error. The moment that I associate with this face just shows how strong her expressions are. The night of the accepted students reception for Macaulay, my parents were away. I carefully planned how to get to the reception from school, but when it came to getting back, I was nervous about traveling so late. I wanted to get home as fast as possible, and took the express train instead of the local. At the end of the line (which was closing for the night), instead of my neighborhood of Riverdale, I was in Harlem, and had no clue how to get home. Luckily, my siblings used the internet to find me a bus ride home, but when I told my mom about the night, she was shocked. Of course, she felt terrible for being away while I was in distress, but I could feel her giving me this stare as she asked me why I didn’t just call someone to pick me up. I knew she was giving me this look, because just from this face I know there was an obvious choice that I did not see. Somehow, this face makes me aware of the obvious choice — only it is usually after the fact.

My abstract pose is also of my mother. Despite everyone’s best guesswork, this pose was meant to reflect my mother’s caring nature. She works as a social worker with children below the age of three, so of course she loves babies. This pose, the fetal position, is meant to show this love of children and her care for family. She puts so much energy into creating a close family and raising me and my siblings well, which continues to amaze me. It is quite the challenge, bringing up two sets of twins that are only two and a half years apart. But somehow, she and my father have done a great job. Her caring and natural motherly nature has shaped the four of us in innumerable ways.

Meira Harris