Life & Death
2021 – 2022
Life (2021-22) Watercolor on watercolor paper, cut and layered 8" x 12"
Death (2021-22) Watercolor on watercolor paper, cut and layered 8" x 12"
This project portrays the duality of life and death to explore the connection between humans and nature.
We exist within the same cycle as plants and animals, it’s a universal connection.
process
I started by researching plants and animals associated with life and death, sketching them to get a feel for their general silhouettes. Moving on to thumbnails, I used three sheets of vellum to replicate the layered composition. After creating digital preliminaries, I decided on a final layout and Cricut printed a cut prototype.
selected sketches, graphite
selected thumbnails, graphite on three sheets of vellum
preliminaries, digital
I used a cut-and-layered format to evoke a sense of obscured interconnectedness. Both Life and Death have similar compositions–a human form in the middle–entwined with nature above and below.
prototype, Cricut printed and cut
paintings & imagery
Common ivy (Hedera helix) survives through winter and quickly grows without human assistance. Red amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) retains its saturated beauty after death, and Hoary stock (Matthiola incana) lives for a long time in vase arrangements. The blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) and blue morpho butterfly (Morpho peleides) represent rebirth because of molting and metamorphosis. Both insects appear blue because of an iridescence that reflects the light and world around them. The circulatory system depicts the heart and the cycling of blood, a constant biological process to keep us alive.
life
Morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) blooms every morning only to die every night. Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and Monkshood (Aconitum napellus) are poisonous flowers associated with death. The Greater death's head hawkmoth (Acherontia lachesis) has the appearance of a skull on its thorax. The American carrion beetle (Necrophila americana) and the American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) are decomposers that scavenge corpses, helping return matter to the larger ecosystem. A human skeleton remains after death and decay.