Elementary school hallways have their own ecosystem — the speed-walkers, the

Elementary school hallways have their own ecosystem — the speed-walkers, the slow drifters, the loud ones orbiting attention, the quiet ones avoiding it.

It was my first exposure to hierarchy. Not adult hierarchy — kid hierarchy, which can be even sharper.

I wasn’t bullied. I wasn’t popular. I occupied the liminal middle — observant, slightly invisible, safe.

I learned to read people. Not academically — intuitively. Kids must learn social physics early, especially the sensitive ones.

This early observational skill became the foundation of my art. Seeing the room. Feeling the currents. Catching the subtext.