Pen and Ink

Grief Series

This is the first time I have conceptualized a work in which I had a plan for it to do something. That something is a series that would give visual expression to my process of grief. I lost my father at the end of 2016 and realized in 2021 that I hadn’t processed that loss fully. Subsequent losses have forced me to stop and reconsider my grief process. This work reflects my own personal process through grief and coming to terms with living with loss.

I’ve used line and color to translate my existential disconnect between reality and what I was feeling. My application of ink varied at times between intuitive and intentional. During the creation process I was connecting with the times I felt out of control and the times when I would barely harness my grief. I wanted the way I applied my lines to express this struggle, coupled with the anxiety of dealing with the normalcy of the outside world. The colors in this series express how I felt at time. For me, emotion is an intangible mist but can be described with color, an aura. In Grief Series I tapped into my personal feelings and connections to color.