Four Deaths

First: Cessation, sudden loss of a loved one by suicide or accidental death.

Second: Quietus, loss of a loved one where the living had more time to prepare.

Third:

Fourth:

I am the unicorn. The white beach or white shores as found in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis is a metaphor for death or life after death. Similarly in the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien when the elves travel by boat to distance lands to rest. The mountains are the House of the Lord. The sky is His divine glory. The lace is the Veil: that pinnacle where one passes from mortal to immortal. The arched triangle composition of the central narrative alludes to the Gothic arch and it’s purpose to draw the eye heavenward. It is all contained within a traditional, four 90 degree cornered frame that has been torched black representing mortality and the unavoidable hurts that come with it.

Cessation

Pyrography and airbrushing on wood.
21 Inches x 31 Inches

Cessation: ceasing, discontinuance, stoppage; either permanent or temporary.
-Oxford English Dictionary

At the water's edge of the white sandy shores that mark that limbo between Here and There. I long to fly with you. To call after you. I know I can't. Youth is fleeting but this is altogether too soon. One by your own hands and one by the unassumed accidental mistake of another. How many more doves are there? I now know three.

The sun set quickly after and brought clouds to a once blue sky. Rain and tears blend together.

In the New Testament the Holy Ghost is symbolized with the image of a dove representing his spirit body. I once had a dove. He was my best friend. I think about him every day. I felt it right to continue that symbolism and use the dove to depict souls that have moved on from this mortal existence. Particularly two young souls who are important to me. One was practically my little brother and was struck by a car when the driver glanced down for a moment. A terrible accident. The other was a dear friend and supporter who is one of few who would be the closest I would have to a little sister. She made the hardest decision she would ever face and chose to end her own life. Both were only teenagers. I've recently lost another young family member to suicide. All are doves now flying in God's good grace.

2024

Quietus

Pyrography and airbrush on wood.
21 Inches x 31 Inches

Quietus: a release or respite from life; an ending of life, death.
-Oxford English Dictionary

It isn't any easier to grieve even when I had years to prepare.

The dead roses are the remnants of my grandma's home where she would host family gatherings. She loved roses. All flowers really. But she taught my mom how to care for roses and in turn my mom taught me. And although these roses have no color, red roses are symbols of Christ’s martyrdom. He died so that the resurrection could take place and we all could be made whole once again.

My grandpa kept doves a long time ago, before his dementia, before his dementia ultimately claimed his life. Every time doves come to my sister's backyard the three of them like to say, “there's the mommy and daddy dove!” These two women and child, my family, live together and survive together in an unsafe home. Once, on a particularly unsettling day, my sister felt the comfort of our grandma's spirit. By this time both grandparents had graduated from this life. Ovarian cancer took my grandma 4 years after her husband left.

Shortly after my sister's experience with the deceased, two doves came to the backyard. My sister and mom exclaimed, “Look Iris! The mommy and daddy dove are back.” But Iris said, “No. That's the grandma and grandpa dove.”

The two doves in this piece represent my maternal grandparents. I long for comfort from the other side of the Veil. Maybe it's there and I'm too busy or too distracted or even too dense to notice. Knowing them, they probably visit everyday.

2024

Artist Brianna Thaxton

Four Deaths