Illustration // Don't Look Back & Mourning Hands with Funereal Cypress

Part of the "Sing No Sad Songs for Me" series for the Death and the Maiden conference in Winchester, UK.
It's an homage to the poet Christina Rosetti - a representation of the resilience of the female spirit and beauty found in Victorian mourning customs. I delve into the symbology of death and transcendence, despair and hope.
The other two pieces in the series, “Mourning Hands with Funereal Cypress” and “Don't Look Back,” utilize watercolor, pencil, watercolor paper, and the modern element of Photoshop, to portray images of female mourning hands, each clutching sprigs in respect of the deceased, among traditional motifs denoting the choice to continue to move forward in the face of loss and grief, a choice that must be made every day. Together, the works remind the viewer that despite the pain and brevity of life, there is beauty in the impermanence of mortality.