Self-portrait with Sunflowers
Relief print on mulberry paper, 49"x36", 2022
Self-portrait with Sunflowers
“… the more that you remain aware of life’s finitude, the more you will cherish it, and the less likely you will be to fritter it away on distractions”
–Oliver Burkeman, The Antidote
Self-portrait with Sunflowers is a meditation on my mortality. My husband had bought me sunflowers for my birthday; a few days later they were beginning to wilt. I wanted to capture their beauty before they faded and allow myself to ponder my existence as in full bloom and simultaneously moving toward my own death. The image, when it comes down to it, is one of gratefulness for life, growth–even as we age–and acceptance that death will come, and with it, its mysteries.