Competition is an inherent quality of man, one that we often try to ignore. We constantly try to one-up our fellow man, but we also try to hide from competition to shield ourselves from its harshness. My work evokes the different stages of our competitive society; pieces that express the spectrum of competition from hiding away to preparing for a fight. Animals have a competitive instinct to survive, which can seem isolating and solitary. But within their herd, there is companionship and safety. I use animals as metaphors for desire and fear in life; a rooster symbolizes a winner or a loser, but one that can anticipate the demands of the fight. The rooster embodies the complexities of survival, defiant resilience, and asking what we lose in the process of fighting to be the last one standing. The ability to be successful is not dependent on the number of triumphs that you have, but rather your willingness to get up and continue the struggle after a defeat.