The Bush Next To Where My First Pet Is Buried

A lot of the work I create has to do with memory, perspective, and my own personal experiences as a woman, specifically a young woman growing up in the South. This linocut relief print is a self-portrait. In this piece my hair is represented by the leaves and flowers of a large honey suckle bush. The bush is overgrown and takes up a majority of the composition to the left and using various different line weights. At the bottom, large, bold garden shears are open, poised ready to chop off the branches. When I was younger we had a large honeysuckle bush in my backyard and during the summer my parents would take my sister and me out there and taught us how to pick the flowers and get the small drop of honey on the inside. Growing up, my parents kept a tight rein on my sister and me. They were strong influences and were very involved in raising me to have the same morals, values, and ideals as them. In this print, my hair is made up of leaves and honeysuckle flowers to represent the seeds my parents planted in me growing and blossoming and their strong influence on who I am today. The bush that is my hair is about to be cut and altered by the garden shears. This is a representation of me growing up and the separation that is happening between me and my parents. As I get older, adventure and learn more about the world I am discovering my own set of morals, beliefs and ideals. I am growing in leaps and bounds and learning new things every day about myself and the world around me. While my parents' views were important to me growing up, this print shows my recognition that I am my own person and I do not necessarily agree with everything they do and say. This black and white relief print is a symbol of growing up, separating myself from my other influences, and becoming who I am meant to be.