Patrick Morales-Lee
So Happy Together (Conjoined Twin Self Portrait), 2025
Pencil and Charcoal Powder on Paper
80 x 55 cm
31 1/2 x 21 5/8 in
31 1/2 x 21 5/8 in
Copyright The Artist
'This imagined self-portrait presents myself as a conjoined twin—an evocative embodiment of psychological duality and emotional inheritance. One side, it gestures toward multiplicity: a curated collection of selves, each a...
"This imagined self-portrait presents myself as a conjoined twin—an evocative embodiment of psychological duality and emotional inheritance.
One side, it gestures toward multiplicity: a curated collection of selves, each a doppelgänger tailored for survival, adaptation, and camouflage. These personas serve as emotional prosthetics, ready to be summoned, worn, or dismissed in response to the shifting demands of external environments. In contrast, the fused foreheads of the twins, joined at the crown—form a jarring yet poignant metaphor for inner dialogue. This anatomical impossibility becomes a visual cipher for self-reliance, intimacy with the self, and the difficult labor of self-love.
The decision to portray myself as a conjoined twin at the age of 48 introduces a compelling paradox: the image speaks both to the absurdity and profundity of seeking validation in midlife. There is irony here, but also tenderness, an acknowledgment of the deeply embedded nature of these yearnings, rooted in early foster care and the foundational rupture of belonging.
The work asks viewers to move beyond voyeurism and into confrontation: with their own defences, masks, and quietly harboured insecurities. At its core, the piece becomes a mirror, less about the me, and more about the universally resonant ache for connection, love, and the self-made fictions that carry us."
One side, it gestures toward multiplicity: a curated collection of selves, each a doppelgänger tailored for survival, adaptation, and camouflage. These personas serve as emotional prosthetics, ready to be summoned, worn, or dismissed in response to the shifting demands of external environments. In contrast, the fused foreheads of the twins, joined at the crown—form a jarring yet poignant metaphor for inner dialogue. This anatomical impossibility becomes a visual cipher for self-reliance, intimacy with the self, and the difficult labor of self-love.
The decision to portray myself as a conjoined twin at the age of 48 introduces a compelling paradox: the image speaks both to the absurdity and profundity of seeking validation in midlife. There is irony here, but also tenderness, an acknowledgment of the deeply embedded nature of these yearnings, rooted in early foster care and the foundational rupture of belonging.
The work asks viewers to move beyond voyeurism and into confrontation: with their own defences, masks, and quietly harboured insecurities. At its core, the piece becomes a mirror, less about the me, and more about the universally resonant ache for connection, love, and the self-made fictions that carry us."