Don’t Be Afraid, Queen, the Blood Has Long Run Down into the Earth by Terri Jo Frew

Terri Jo Frew's Website and Instagram

Based in Houghton, Michigan, USA

Don’t Be Afraid, Queen, the Blood Has Long Run Down into the Earth, India ink on Sanded Paper, 2018, 60"x54"

Don’t Be Afraid, Queen, the Blood Has Long Run Down into the Earth is by no means a happy drawing. It comes from a place of deep pain and sorrow. The creation of it was a way for me mourn a heavy loss: the miscarriage of a much-wanted child in 2017. The art itself was created during an emotional three-hour performance in early 2018. During this performance, the elements of the drawing emerged from the viscous India ink I was using.

Once majestic, now stripped clean: a skeletal bear is a self-portrait, an appropriate icon for the ghastly nature of the sadness and loneliness of my situation. She is surrounded by lilies, potent symbols of death and mourning. As if in sync with my personal misery, the ink itself drips as it tries to flee the very paper it’s being imposed upon. Stereotypically, night falls on this scene.

However, amidst this raw humanity and tragedy, there is a certain beauty to be found. In the flow of the ink, in the curve of the lilies’ leaves, in the brushstrokes of the encroaching darkness. When I titled Don’t Be Afraid, Queen…, in the midst of this sadness, I was reaching for hope and reassurance. Reassurance that this isn’t a unique situation. I’m now one of the one in four women who experience pregnancy loss- a sisterhood that few aspire to. In this sense, the earth is representative of the fertile womb that gives and takes indifferently. I was also taking refuge in the warm, comfortable space that my old friend drawing provides.

Don’t Be Afraid, Queen… has been shown a handful of times since its creation. Each time it’s shown, the paper degrades a bit more. I see this as a metaphor for a life lived, one with experiences both positive and negative that shape and mold us- for better or worse.