Kay Nielson

Death went away with her child into the unknown land’ - Illustration for The Story of a Mother

I find this piece to be very successful as the story is summarised and told clearly within that single image. You recognise characters through symbolism and common features. Such as Death as the striking man, due to his mini scythe in his pocket. The fact that it is 1. mini and 2. in his pocket, suggests elements of mystery/untold truth, as it is not as large as usual/ out in the open. Concealing his character to a regular man at first glance. The large stance suggests power, especially with the wide spread legs and how the mother is so helplessly low. Her darkly pigmented gown suggests the sorrow in her heart, matched with the body language, tilting her head backwards like regret. The fact the image is created within a frame, is like its encapsulating scene, like theatre curtains. It adds to the fairytale component which i take inspiration from. The flowers are not blossomed, for they could be even wilted, but they dance around the image to remind of a beautiful yet heartbroken story within. However the flowers inside the image appear to be fresh, and since the mother is sitting on the windowsill rather than being outside, it could suggest she has caused the flowers around her to dim. The proportions of the charcters are fairly natural, however very slender and boney, attributing towards the themes of death. The framework of the image is what inspires me within narrative flux as i feel this is soemthing that could keep the story flowing, to create a type of iconography that was aparant in almost everyscene , to feel as if the story is moving forward, like a walk / travelling through an environment. eg to have similar kind of trees move within the scenes to create a setting.

Research: NARRATIVE FLUX

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