Penelope’s Shroud
Benjamin W.
-
To create this piece I first did a pencil outline, then used pen to shade. However, I used no reference images to create the piece. This drawing was created with the effects of climate change in mind, and is titled Penelope's Shroud. According to Homer's Odyssey, while Odysseus was gone, Penelope was told that when she finished his funeral shroud, she would have to marry one of the suitors. Believing that he was still alive, just late, she unwove what she had done for that day in secret. Similarly today, in the world we can see the rise of civilizations and cities accompanied by their inevitable reclaiming by nature. Left to its own devices, nature wont stop this process. In this drawing, a frog rests atop a burning piece of paper. On this paper I drew mountains with its reflection being a crumbling city. This is to show the similarity in that nature wears down even the greatest of mountains, just like nature can reduce cities to nothing and reclaim them. The frog and petals that rest on top of the burning paper are the symbol of life itself. The main point this piece tries to convey is that life has to work to stop the burning(unraveling) or move elsewhere. Sitting by in complacence will in the short term save effort, but in the long run, when this burning edge approaches, life won't have anywhere to go. To apply this to the modern day, if world leaders continue to sit in complacence sacrificing long term necessities for short term benefits, we will meet a similar fate.
-
For me creativity isn't easily defined. It means the ability to synthesize ones experiences and investigate them in various forms; taking a problem presented and thinking about the solution's implications beyond the problem itself. It also means taking in what is known and expanding beyond.
