Arizona’s admission to the union was preceded by political conflict involving President William Howard Taft over the state’s right to recall judges. Eventually, a compromise was reached and in 1912, Arizona became a state. The hard feelings have long evaporated -- an oil painting of Taft, whose signature eventually granted statehood to Arizona, still hangs in its old state capitol building. As I moved in on that painting, I noticed how the light was playing with the textures of the paint, which seems to be exploding into Taft’s face. Given the political strife over Arizona’s statehood, I thought this explosion creates an appropriate metaphor.