U.S. Marine Alex Minsky lost his leg and nearly died in Afghanistan three years ago, when he and his fellow Marines fell victim to a roadside bomb. After recovering from a coma and learning to use his new prosthetic leg, the Purple Heart recipient fell into depression and started drinking.

Winnie Truong was born in Toronto, where she still lives, and received her BFA in painting and drawing from Ontario College of Art and Design.

Using pencil, crayon, and chalk pastel on giant sheets of paper, Truong creates portraits with great detail. Her aim is to explore notions of beauty and discomfort and, inspired by science fiction, she portrays hair in all its ‘whiskery, wispy, curly, bristly’ brilliance.