Art can be static or dynamic, but ultimately seeks to engage and elicit emotion. The viewer sees the picture, but in this case the painting looks back. There are parts of the human brain that light up when we are confronted by human faces and, even more so, by eyes. This particular painting creates a bidirectional emotional dialogue between the viewer and the canvas. For some, it elicits richness, excitement and intensity of life. I was inspired by my patients in the intensive care unit and operating room, who are often intubated and cannot speak. Nevertheless, they see as I walk in the room and examine them. Behind all the tubes and mechanical equipment there is always a person with a complex life, a past that is full of color, a rich story that awaits to be told, watching you as you watch them. Oils take months to dry up, but I used a technique called alla prima and impasto to create emotion and three dimensionality and bring it to life through the richness and thickness of the color rather than the line and form.