Robert made several studies for this image. It began as an upbeat image of friendship with young people making music together. The finished work has become a moody portrait of Heather MacKinnon and her roommate, Annie Forest. The two students were living in a rented trailer at the time, which Robert depicts as a confining box. Heather has transformed her usual look by changing her straight hair to a curly perm. Robert wrote a poem beside his first study: “She once was straight/ but couldn’t stand the fall/ so she got her hair permed/ and was shocked by what she learned.” Music is present in Insomnia in two ways: a tape recorder lies on the table beside the lamp. On the wall in back is a poster of Bruce Springsteen, Heather’s favourite musician at the time. A later image, The Promised Land is based on a song by Springsteen and shows Heather driving a car at night with the famous singer sitting in the seat beside her.