Thread of life

My darling little sister is in matric, now she will always be my little sister, even as I watch her becoming more of a woman every day I refuse to look at her as that and want her to be my little kid sister forever. I sometimes just stare at her as I watch her become her own and I know I have a few more months with her before she leaves for America and follows her own dreams, but that's another post all together, one that I am waiting to write without sobbing my eyes out, so it might never be written.

She takes Art as one of her final subjects and at the beginning of the year she was given the topic "Unexpected Beauty", she chose mine and Aidens story as her muse and this week she is being moderated. So far all I have to share is her Rational on her art pieces but will share pictures of her work when I can.

Seeing your life in someone else's eye's is always a good thing, but some of the things she said ripped my heart apart, she watched me break and she saw my pain and I, as an older sister should have shown her strength instead.

Thread of Life

Pregnancy is a gift, a gift that many don’t fully understand or comprehend. An accidental pregnancy is most often the worst of all to those whom experience it. As soon as I heard the theme of unexpected beauty was to be explored for this artwork I immediately think of my dear sister who fell pregnant at the beginning of 2011 unexpectedly. Nothing could explain the kind of fear, pain, and worry and hurt that my sister was feeling, not only because she was pregnant but because the man left. I remember everything clearly, I was there living it with her because we not just sisters but best friends. From my perspective of the situation that my sister faced, the moment it became real was the moment she saw the first scan.

The scan gives the visual of the baby that is growing inside, and with this visual everything becomes real. My artwork consists of two scans from my sisters pregnancy each connected by the thread of life which was how my sister connected with her unborn child. Although she might have felt emotional separation from her child, the umbilical cord connects them as if they were one. They were bonded in a special way that nobody could ever imagine. 

My Heart. My Child

My scans developed into a sculpture of the physical form of the pregnant body. The pregnant form is beautiful in its own way; it’s the form of creation. I wanted to express the feelings of how this form was to that of the woman experiencing a pregnancy that wasn’t wanted. This was why; within the walls of the outer layer are the words and stories from my sister’s blog “Miss Preggy.” which has now turned into “From there to hear.” Her stories are real and blunt of how she felt throughout the pregnancy, the words of a woman who knows what it felt like. My sculpture is rough and not completely clean on the edges which is because I wanted to make a point that although it’s a beautiful miracle, it’s not easy for a lot of woman because of the circumstances.

My artwork is of raw emotion which deals with something personal and dear to my heart. My artwork is for woman who felt too ashamed to share their story or too scared. My artworks were created for my sister in order to let her know that her story is beautiful and it might not go by the book of how things are to be done, but that it’s still a beautiful creation. Her unborn child was a life that was meant to be because all children are meant to be. Society has created a world where accidental pregnancies aren’t accepted but a shame. My art is there to show the beauty in that shame, the beauty in life.