She Used To Be

SHE USED TO BE , 2025
coloured pencils on Fabriano
29.7x42cm (unframed) still to be framed

“Getting older as a woman hits differently. At this point in Dee’s life she is forced to face the fact that her body is changing. The yearning for her younger self – the body that was stronger and more capable, the mind that was surer with less fear, the quick adaptability that came with a relatively transient lifestyle – is at its strongest and she tries to navigate the shift in perspective from yearning to simple nostalgia.

This notion is embodied in a rose which was picked from her own garden, perfect and beautiful. By the time she had gotten around to photographing it, it had wilted and the colours had begun to fade. The hasty use of sellotape to try and preserve it as best as she can illustrates the desperation of trying to hold onto what was.

And then ultimately turned into a work of art.”