Artist: Elisabeth Ladwig
Title: Counting Crows
Medium: Photo Collage on Watercolor Paper
Dimensions: Please Select
Printed on museum-grade, textured fine art paper (100% rag archival). Unframed fine art prints.
18"h x 12"w: Edition of 28
27"h x 18"w: Edition of 17
35" h x 23"w: Edition of 7
"Whenever I imagine a scarecrow, I always envision crows dancing about ~ the very thing scarecrows are supposed to frighten off. Do scarecrows even work? I decided to Google it: a scarecrow has to change every few days to be effective. Makes sense. But it got me thinking... about fear. Some fears, of course, are necessary; they're about survival. It's the other stuff that can impede our happiness ~ or destroy our health. "Seven for a secret / Never to be told," the nursery rhyme says. So, what, exactly, is the secret to overcoming fear? Sometimes there is a single moment, a literal blip in time, when a fear is extinguished. It feels like a fever breaking. Only in its absence do we realize just how heavy it weighed. It can happen with a sudden and unexpected revelation, or it can be something we've worked long and hard to overcome. I'm not talking about suppressing the fear; on the contrary, I'm talking about embracing the fear, respecting it, digesting it, letting it move through you, and ultimately giving it permission to leave (because really, what are we afraid of?). It is the mindset of separating the Self from the fear, rather than it being a part of us. There are things in life we cannot change ~ our genetics, our past... but fear? Fear is not one of them. Why do we insist on holding our fears so close to our hearts?" Elisabeth Ladwig
"Counting Crows" is a creative and evocative piece of artwork featuring a person taking on the form of a scarecrow-like figure. The individual stands amidst a field with arms resting on the post, sticks replace their arms, and straw is protruding from where their hands should be, mimicking the traditional form of a scarecrow used to ward off birds.The figure is adorned in a flowing, purple dress that gives a sense of movement and life, contrasting with the typically inanimate nature of a scarecrow. Above and around the figure, crows take flight in a somewhat ominous manner, enhancing the overall eerie atmosphere of the scene. The sky is overcast with a muted palette, which adds to the feeling of solitude and melancholy. The artwork is exploring themes of nature, humanity's relationship with the environment, identity, transformation, or the intersections thereof. The juxtaposition of a lively human figure with elements of a scarecrow creates a powerful visual narrative that leaves room for interpretation.