Artist Statement

Question/Issue:

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Grief is one of the few things in life that is universal, but it is something that is hardly ever talked about in our society; we’d rather hide it away in a back corner of our minds than talk about such a dark uncertainty. In tackling this project with such a taboo subject matter, there were a few questions I was hoping to address:

• How does “society” expect people to grieve?

• What societal or cultural norms are placed on those grieving?

• How is grief reflected in other ways like art?

• Are there any commonalities between grief’s depiction in art despite generational gaps?

• Why is grief avoided? 

• What are we “afraid of”?

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History & Distinction:

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After doing some research into a wide variety of artists and specific works relating to grief and loss like “Lamentation of Christ” by Andrea Mantegna and “Death in a Sickroom” by Edvard Munch, I realized several commonalities in the art that troubled me. Every piece that attempted to take on grief or loss, no matter the time period, focused on death with dark and muted colors and other grim artistic choices; everything focused on the loss rather than the idea that we are still living (Funeral Guide).

As someone who has dealt with grief tremendously over the last year with the loss of my mom, I was discouraged by lack of hope and conversation surrounding this topic. That is why I have decided to use my own experiences to create a piece that acknowledges the sadness and pain of loss, but also demonstrates the idea of life after death through the use of watercolor and mixed media.

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Approach:

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Most of the research I conducted can be put into two categories: grief and watercolor techniques. In terms of grief, I first researched it’s depiction in art as I covered previously. After that, I dove into the idea of what it meant to grieve. In doing so I looked at a variety of sources such as different blogs relating to loss of a loved one, medical websites like the Mayo Clinic covering the clinical side of grief, and literature from the UMD library about the importance of discussing grief ("What is Grief?"). Further, I created a GoogleForm to obtain a wider variety of perspectives on the subject. In this survey, I posed an open question for participants to discuss their experiences emotionally. In terms of watercolor painting technique, I did some research focusing more on how-to’s because I did not have much of a background in visual art. Needless to say, I watched hours and hours of Youtube tutorials to figure out the basics. In addition to that, I did some more refined research on different watercolor techniques through the UMD library and various art blogs. There, I the most effective wash techniques for both paper and canvas.

After completing research, I decided that there is power in our emotions and the words we use to convey them. As such, I began to develop methods to use my words and experiences, in addition to those of others, to create this piece. My exact process is detailed under the Process tab.

Audience:

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One of the central ideas I wanted to focus on with this project is the idea of grief’s universality. As such, I wanted to make sure these ideas could have a far reach in terms of audience. I hope that this piece can create a sense of “catharsis” for those who have experienced loss by seeing a different perspective on grief. Beyond that, I hope that the piece conveys the point that there is hope which grows from despair. For those who have yet to experience grief, I hope this is a tangible expression of what it feels like to grieve. Even further, those who haven’t grieved can learn about the topic as a way to help or comfort those who have lost someone in the future. 

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Impact:

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In short, this project was created as a way to use my experiences to confront grief’s preconceived notions with three main ideas:

1. Grief is a universal reality, but there is no universal approach to it

2. The grieving process is unique for every person who goes through it and you are entitled to feel however you feel

3. Even though loss may feel momentous at times and you will never be able to attain that normalcy you once had, this loss will not define you forever. It simply adds a new facet and you will grow because of it

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References:

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Funeral Guide. “Death Art: 10 Masterpieces Exploring Grief & Loss.” Funeral Guide,  https://www.funeralguide.com, 28 Mar. 2019, www.funeralguide.com/blog/death-art.

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“What Is Grief?” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1998, www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/support-groups/what-is-grief.