Repression

Repression

    Repression is a watercolor and ink painting depicting a cabin and a forest fire. This piece has many small symbols meant to hint at the central theme, but the primary symbol is the fire. Fire is a form of nonliving growth that feeds on oxygen to spread. Fire is often a symbol of destruction and violence due to the frequently devastating damage it can cause. Because fire is nonliving, I have used it to represent learned behavior. Since it is associated with destruction, I decided that it would be used to illustrate repression. Repression is a coping mechanism created from guilt or shame. It causes those who experience it to hide who they truly are, even from themselves. The cabin, which has no windows to see inside, represents the repressed person's mind. The fire is the catalyst that eventually will break the coping strategy, leaving the true personality of the person to leak out and away. There are a number of saplings around the house, which represent the loss of potential. Repression is a very sad outcome to trauma, as it often makes the victim feel "locked" inside themself.