I have always loved the band Florence and the Machine. Their song Never Let Me Go has beautiful imagery and resonates with something we all struggle with. Whether it is pertaining to a relationship, loss of faith or struggles with faith in something, or just depression itself it touches on feelings of drowning and uncertainty. Even though it sounds like a woman is singing about the beautiful things she sees from beneath the water at first it turns into talking about finding a place to calm herself from whatever struggles is happening. Some say it is about relationship struggles. I have always felt more about never letting yourself go. Never letting yourself drown in sorrow, fear, sadness, or feelings of uncertainty or feeling out of control or lost. Almost a play on being lost at sea. Like so many fables and old tales of someone being lost to the sea. Often those people were struggling with loss, trauma, or deep sadness or hopelessness.
I will include the lyrics here. I would also suggest listening to it while you look at my piece. The full version with lyrics is on Youtube.
Florence and the Machine
Never Let Me Go
Looking up from underneath
Fractured moonlight on the sea
Reflections still look the same to me
As before I went under
Fractured moonlight on the sea
Reflections still look the same to me
As before I went under
And it's peaceful in the deep
Cathedral where you cannot breathe
No need to pray, no need to speak
Now I am under all
Cathedral where you cannot breathe
No need to pray, no need to speak
Now I am under all
And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
Though the pressure's hard to take
It's the only way I can escape
It seems a heavy choice to make
But now I am under, oh
It's the only way I can escape
It seems a heavy choice to make
But now I am under, oh
And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
So, so cold and so sweet
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
So, so cold and so sweet
In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold
And all this devotion, I never knew at all
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner released
In the arms of the ocean delivered me
And all this devotion, I never knew at all
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner released
In the arms of the ocean delivered me
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
Ooh, so cold and so sweet
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
Ooh, so cold and so sweet
I decided to use a painting I did within the last year that never felt finished for the background. I used it at 3 separate angles in the background and blended the edges so it looks like one. The way I use plants to create ”Nature Graffiti” as I often call it makes it look like underwater plant life. When we were given this assignment, my first thought was to use this song as I have always wanted to make imagery of my own with it. Music has always been one of two things I use to help my PTSD symptoms and depression. Art is the other.
I let the bright green and teal hues of the original painting shine throughout this piece almost like the plant life was growing with beauty from within. Something I have always struggled with seeing in myself is beauty of soul and letting it come to the surface to be shown without fear of judgement. In the past two years trying to help myself heal from all the things that have happened in my life I have fought hard to see myself as worthy and amazing. I try to always show that I am a good person and help others in many ways.
I used the purple to add to the analogous color scheme and added red to the hair as a pop of contrast to the greens as well as represent the singer and song writer’s actual hair. I studied multiple images of her over the years and decided to base the faces off of a picture of her leaning against a mirror. The mirror helps represent the reflections of yourself and fighting for yourself not drowning in whatever it is pulling you under. I immediately had the idea to use the text vertical like water dripping down the mirror. I duplicated the text and reversed it as another reflection. I played with placement of the text in front of and behind the other face and chose behind as I wanted the other face to stand out like she is trying to pull herself back out of it. I did use all of the lyrics except the repetitive chorus. I wanted to have them dripping down like water and thought using more words rather than three would work much better and read better. I also used the font I did because it has a slightly folklore book style to it and almost looks like old story book nautical text style. Other fonts I tried I didn’t like as well.
I loved my other sketches and ideas too but thought that the duel faces reflected resonated with my own personal story as well as with a lot of people as well.
