A liminal study on the human condition, where fracture gives rise to a shape that we can barely recognize. Over the past few months, my subconscious feelings led me to take random photos that represented my difficulties growing up as a Japanese American dealing with pectus excavatum, a birth defect in which one's chest caves inward. I often found myself circling back to the dualism of the underlying beauty that lies within despair. More specifically, the subject matter that I often go back to includes worn objects and composed shadow abstractions. The title Forlorn Crucible describes a state of hopeless isolation combined with a period of intense, transformative struggle. Forlorn means feeling abandoned, lonely, or completely without hope, while a crucible is a severe test or a trial that forces a person to change or grow. It implies that while the experience is lonely and exhausting, it is the very thing that shapes who they become. Can something greater be formed out of despair? Does this "something" extend beyond humanity and perhaps life itself? I want my images to serve as a visual language for the "unseen" struggle, pushing the viewer to find beauty in structural vulnerability.