By Rachel Hermes

This etching was published in the Feb. 2019 edition of Live Ideas. View it HERE.

In this etching, a female form is encapsulated by vegetation in a languid yet stoic position. I hope to give the sense that the plants and vines are slowly growing and forming around her as time ceaselessly wears on. Nature is used to depict a timeless and variable entity which indicates the suffocating feeling caused by the many stressors of modern social life. The figure, however, does not have a visible response to the plants; they are gradually enveloping her such that she does not notice. To me, the image represents the emotional toll of living in a technological world of ceaseless information which is often morally challenging and psychologically draining, and how there is no easy reprieve from those negative impacts without forcing yourself to embrace apathy.

Copper etching with Chine-collé
5 x 8″

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.