“Turn your pain into art”

“Turn your pain into art”

 Aunt Jennifer creates a needlepoint that shows tigers leaping across the canvas. Bright and vibrant, like topaz gems, the tigers live within the green world of the canvas. They are not afraid of the men standing underneath the tree, who are also depicted in the image. The tigers walk with certainty, shining and courageous.

Aunt Jennifer turns to needlework as a creative outlet, a means of coping with her difficult marriage and escaping her oppressive everyday reality. The tapestry panels she crafts with her needle and wool show tigers "prancing, proud and unafraid." This mood contrasts sharply with the seemingly meek and scared character of Aunt Jennifer herself. While the tigers are walking confidently, Aunt Jennifer can barely pull the ivory needle through her wool, due to the weight of "Uncle's wedding band.

"Although Aunt Jennifer can't escape, in life or death, the weight of her difficult marriage or her subservient role in it, her creative work remains a liberating force. Jennifer herself may not be free, but her tapestries and their tigers are. What's more, the tapestries will outlive Aunt Jennifer, Uncle, and their marriage, indicating that art can create an immortal kind of freedom that goes beyond human oppression.

MEGHA BAILUR

12-C