Half-life

(Graphite pencil on paper, 18”x13.5”)

As the title suggests, this is the first and cornerstone piece in the Half-life series, and the work that encapsulates the overarching themes of the whole collection. The idea and mental image of Half-life sparked a creative fire in me which resulted in seven additional fully-realized concepts for pieces that would build off of this foundational work.

Representing the physical aspect of life, Half-life deals with approaching middle age and accepting the knowledge that my body has reached the statistical halfway point. For women, this transition is often made especially brutal by the prevailing cultural norms that idealize youth at the expense of experience. When conceiving the idea for Half-life, all I knew was that I didn’t buy into any of it. I didn’t want to go back, or stay suspended; I wanted to move on. Half-life is not a mid-life crisis; it’s a mid-life confrontation.

Technically, I dove straight into the deep end here. Having never previously produced a fully-rendered graphite portrait at this scale, it was a risk to tackle Half-life first. After three and a half months spent glazing subtle variations in value, I had built up the suede-like texture that I like to achieve in my graphite drawings. This smooth, tactile quality of the medium corresponds to the concept of the physical that Half-life embodies.

The song I chose to accompany this piece on the Half-life playlist is “King” by Florence + The Machine. In it, Florence Welch wrestles openly with her impending late thirties while simultaneously confessing her qualms about missing out on marriage and motherhood and celebrating her quest to perfect her craft. Listen at:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCqyznXdAYhqp0YVi6XnXe9b9_HxuVqXa