Tree of Life, Tree of Death. As One. - Tree of Life Shooting
My photographic artwork is entitled, Tree of Life, Tree of Death. As One. My piece came out of an effort to truly put myself in the shoes a survivor. I thought about the vibrant lives that were extinguished that day In Squirrel Hill, the image of the “tree of life” representing the vibrancy of those lives. That day in the synagogue, the “tree of life” turned into a space of quite the opposite. I think of the way the victims/survivors and community members must have felt, having their physical, emotional and existential safety taken from them in such a dramatic way. I was reminded of a beautiful cactus that I have had for many, many years, which recently died out of nowhere. Its bright, vibrant green arms turned to gray, dried out limbs seemingly overnight. I thought about the way a cactus protects itself with its spikes, but was unable to protect itself from being unexpectedly dried out in the sun. What remains is beautiful, but forever changed. A survivor might use this metaphor and image to possibly explain their experience, as unable to use their “spikes” to protect themselves, living on in this possibly forever changed state of being, tasked with regaining or developing new protective spikes, but remaining still in existence. I colored in some of the spikes using vibrant colors to represent the new protective spikes, representing possibly family, community, creativity and other protective resources promoting resiliency.
