Artist Statement
The magenta skull symbolizes life and death while the sword passing through the skull is a symbol of life’s ever present cycle of conflicts, grief, and sorrow. The ambiguous gray of the sword is used to convey the fact that we will all encounter an incredibly vast variety of struggles throughout the course of our lives. It is also outlined with gold detailing as a play on the phrase “every cloud has a silver lining. As the sword pierces the skull, out pours technicolor tears and blood. The bright colors represent the immense beauty and growth that we can find on the other side of our struggles as we learn to conquer them. The title of this painting urges us to not dwell in our sorrow but to move forward and grow with it.
Recommended Citation
Mathew, Sharon
(2022)
"Sorrow Cannot Resurrect,"
be Still: Vol. 6, Article 18.
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/bestill/vol6/iss1/18
About the Artist
My name is Sharon Mathew and I am a medical student and self-taught artist specializing in acrylics. Throughout my life, I have viewed art as a way of expressing the contents of my soul that cannot be understood through language. Oftentimes I feel as though art is the means by which my soul communicates to me when I am struggling with processing whatever mental block I come across. In recent years, I have been able to learn how art can also be used as a tool to promote radical change. Art is quite literally a way in which we can learn to shape reality by learning how to construct objects, ideas, and concepts that do not yet materially exist. In doing so, artists learn how to then transcend those techniques into our living reality. As an artist and a future physician, I aim to use these invaluable techniques; to help shape a reality that is kinder to marginalized patient populations, whether that be through legislation or community leadership.