The Leaving, The Arrival

I made these drawings a few months ago when talk of going to Mars was in the news.  It seems that the rich feel that abandoning the Earth for Mars is the way to save themselves. (The title, The Leaving, started here.) My drawings are ambiguous and although actual circumstances of the day may fit their interpretation, I also see them addressing fundamental issues (such as birth and death) for all human beings.  And now that I think of it, in a short amount of time 4 people that I knew died and none of them because of Covid, but since we were in the middle of social distancing, wearing masks, and watching the numbers of deaths rise, it felt like many people were leaving the planet. So as it is in our everyday life, the circumstances and metaphors mix together. 

In the second drawing, called The Arrival, I was imagining where those that left were going.  And it seems that above the clouds that the departed escaped through, there is another land. Isn't that what we always want -  another chance, a better place, another life to start over in? The Arrival plays on the theme of birth, and in this case, the new land is giving birth to the inhabitants. And although most of us arrive through the body of a woman, and hold to that story, we all are really children of the Earth and Life.

I hope you can see the humor in the images as well as the serious themes that produced these images. I find them funny and tragic. Look carefully for Elon Musk as a young child and I'm sure you'll see some other folks that you know.

The Leaving

 

The Arrival

Details from The Leaving

Details from The Arrival

The graphite drawings are 22x30" on Stonehenge paper. 2021