Artwork > Ink Work - Large Portraits

Sweet Thorn
This portrait of my daughter depicts her with sweet thorn thorns woven into her long hair. This tree has been her ‘totem’ plant since birth. In this ink painting I use the thorns to form a protective barrier against the world for her: Tiva’s own fragility and vulnerability bolstered by her Southern African heritage and her links to the natural world. As a person who has suffered great personal loss and emotional turmoil, the thorns can also be interpreted as a biblical reference to a crown of thorns. Her earring is a single sweet thorn bloom and leaf referring to her gentleness and beauty.