Coping
It seems the norm for grieving is often to try to forget. I cannot say how often I have heard ‘let them go.’ I’ve decided I don’t want to. I’m going to cope, accepting the ups and downs as they come. I have decided to focus more on the fact that my loved ones were here, rather than that they are gone. I want to see how others cope, or do not. Through interviews with my family, I am able to ascertain how they are handling emotions that are often culturally shunned.
I have paired their emotional thoughts with large drawings of my deceased father and grandmother, along with other immediate family members who are still living. These full-body portraits, drawn in graphite with red conte pencil accents, loom over the viewer and place emphasis on aspects I associate with each person portrayed. I focused on my dad’s hands, that I held onto while he was in the hospital; my grandmother’s knees, knotted from her fight with polio in early childhood; me and my sister together; my mother’s stomach.
Graphite, Red Conte pencil on Paper
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