In If You Lived As I Did, the image of a single fish inside a bowl contrasts sharply with another fish, lifeless on the table beside it. This stark juxtaposition mirrors the emotional and psychological dissonance of existing within—or outside of—environments that define us. The surviving fish moves within the confines of its glass world, while the other, stripped from its life source, embodies the vulnerability of being removed from one’s essential context.

The piece draws on the metaphor of a “fish out of water” to emphasize the struggles of adaptation and the fragility of identity when uprooted from familiar grounds. It suggests that survival isn’t solely about resilience—it’s about compatibility with the spaces we inhabit.

If You Lived As I Did questions what it means to truly belong. It reflects on how our inner worlds are often shaped—and limited—by external conditions, and how stepping outside those boundaries can feel not just uncomfortable, but fatal. The work invites viewers to confront the invisible forces that govern their own sense of place, survival, and self-preservation.