The Pool of Tears

(India ink on paper, 18”x13.5”)

The second half of the Half-life series begins with The Pool of Tears. Each piece in this series takes a distinct part of life and examines the duality within it, looking at two sides of the same coin. This fifth drawing explores the ups and downs of the emotional terrain women must navigate, and our overall perception of expressing feelings.

In Lewis Carroll’s seminal 1865 work Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (from which the title of this piece is taken), our heroine is confronted with enough confounding circumstances to drive any girl to distress. However, her fundamental practicality prompts a swift and stern rejection of this natural emotional response:

“ ‘Come, there’s no use in crying like that!’ said Alice to herself rather sharply. ‘I advise you to leave off this minute!’ She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. ‘But it’s no use now,’ thought poor Alice, ‘to pretend to be two people! Why, there’s hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!’ ” (14)

Does Carroll wish to portray Alice as a pragmatic protagonist, or are the societal norms of his day influencing Alice’s repression of her tears? Women throughout history have had to tread the tricky territory of utilizing our emotional intelligence in ways that are both helpful and acceptable to ourselves and others.

In The Pool of Tears, I sought to convey this quest for balance. The impulsive, distraught figure above is affecting the aloof, logical figure below in obvious ways. The wild tangle of hair and the (ink wash) running mascara are elements that emphasize the exaggerated emotionality of the former.

The challenge of embracing emotions without being ruled by them is beautifully encapsulated in the song I’ve picked to represent The Pool of Tears on the Half-life playlist. Ariana Grande’s “No Tears Left to Cry” acknowledges that there is a time to weep and a time to move on. This paragon of pop music production has a mere 1.1 billion views on YouTube, so let’s all do our part to promote it:

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

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 1865. London: Penguin, 2009.