Unravelling, 2021, 60×84, Ashley Gringhuis

Artwork Description

Unravelling charts both the end and the beginning of an individual’s life as attached to a crimson string, symbolizing a dependence on others for life but also a cause for afflictions and anxieties. This red string symbolizes broadly this idea of living, as I noticed through my life used as an analogy for life in literature and stories (the three fates in Greek mythology cutting one’s string of life, in Romeo and Juliet as tying two lovers together, three strands woven to represent community as pictured in the Bible, etc.). In the painting, this string is being removed and carried away from the figure, showing this idea of life being taken, but allowing the viewer to imagine where it could be going, and what life might lead to next.

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