Lucinda Santos – Life Just Won’t Quit

This piece was made with oil pastels. It is a colorful self-portrait, with mainly primary colors to give a sort of clownish feel. I added a flaming candle that is almost burnt out. The figure is looking down at the candle with a tired and emotionless expression. In the background it is black with lurking eyes, all staring at the figure. I wanted this piece to show the burnt out and tired feeling I have. With eyes I wanted to show how everyone is watching all the time, so there is no room for error. How you always have to put on an act. How even when I act, I still feel like a clown. I feel like everyone is laughing at me. The flame almost burnt out represents the way my productivity is decreasing due to being over-committed. I believe that we all experience this feeling I am conveying at least once in our lives. It’s yucky but human. I want everyone to be able to relate to this and find comfort in the fact that they are not alone. I made this piece to show how sometimes we feel down and depressed, but that won’t last forever. The light from the candle shows how even if the flame is almost out, it is still there and burning brighter. How even when we are sad, there is always something to look forward to. My something to look forward to is the future. I find it exciting how the future looks so promising. The title of my piece, ‘Life Just Won’t Quit’, comes from one of my favorite songs, ‘Sir Duke’ by Stevie Wonder. To me, this means that even when life seems to not be going great, it won’t stop. The world keeps on spinning. I wanted this piece to not only convey the stressful feelings I have but to also inspire hope. I wanted the candle to inspire hope since it is still burning bright; the passion is still there even though it is a little worn out. It just might take some time to find greater passion.