For the past few years artist Jack O’Hearn’s work has revolved around an interest in other cultures and their relationship to his own. The breadth of research has ranged from squatter life in the developing world and it's relation to contemporary design trends, to how indigenous cultures have come to be represented and thought about in the popular culture of the West. The primary discipline has always been painting, however, sculpture, installation and other mediums have come to play a role along side it. Recently, after struggling with the dilemma of representing cultures that exist beyond the realm of familiarity, the artist decided to search for the core of his interests. What he found wasn't a desire for empathy, but like many Western artists, writers, & storytellers who've come before him, a desire to mentally escape into a world of "otherness." While once hiding from this truth, it has now become the thesis of his work. It is a world based on his own desires and fantasies that are in no way representative of reality, but are inspired by a lifetime of elusive and intangible depictions.