I was granted an ‘Alien of Extraordinary Ability’ visa by the U.S. Government to work in California in 2015. I always wondered what ‘alien’ meant. Impressed by America’s vast attachment to the material and the manufactured, I was struck by how life perpetually felt staged.

How alien.

Despite the continous sunshine and relentless natural beauty, life in California felt like a trap. I was lonely and stuck. And I know I was not the only one as these were the beginning of the Trump years.

This project is a collection of my experiences as an outsider in America.