Dear Blog Readers,
Welcome to the second virtual art show post. This week we are featuring Ellie Pearce and her self-portraits.
Name: Ellie Pearce
Title: ‘Self-Portraits – before and during the hardest parts of my recovery‘
Dates: November 18th, 2018 (sitting) & December 10th, 2018 (boxed in)
Medium: oil pastels on sketch paper
Description: These self portraits were produced less than 1 month apart. This is hard to believe now because the difference between those times made it feel like an eternity. Initially they were private sketches, made late at night to release some of the difficult emotions that come with recovery, but I think it is important to share them now. They show that recovery is not always just about getting better. Is not always happiness and growing. Is not always linear. But, it is always important, and it is always possible. Recovery is not easy, but looking back I hate to think what my drawings would look like now if I’d stopped there, at the hard part. If I’d stayed trapped in the box I can no longer truly remember drawing. I have not made any more self portraits since, though maybe I should, because time and effort has made a world of difference. There are still days when I feel the pull of the box again, the rigid walls and ‘safe’ confinement. But I look at the girl in the first drawing and think that she started recovery for a reason. Because she doesn’t need a box, she doesn’t want a box, not anymore. Perhaps it’s time I draw her free again.
