The Spiral

This piece was started shortly after I received the news of a friend's overdose and hospitalization. It was months after the event when she eventually told me out of the blue, it made me feel terrible and like a bad friend. I had hoped that if she was feeling so bad she'd be willing to try and take her life that she would at least try to reach out to me. Of course, I don't blame her, I know and understand the pain but it is so easy to feel helpless about such situations, it's like standing on the side watching a car crash. You have no power to change anything and your only option is to keep looking or turn your eyes away, and I do not know which is worse. The painting then is a story about addiction. A spiral the lonely and depraved walk, it's a very vicious cycle; one which is not easily broken. The opium flower is a beautiful yet deadly allure, whose intoxicating effects turn regular people into fiends. I have known many people who have struggled or still is struggling with substance abuse and addiction. The substance has all been different but just like the opium flower all of them offer a beauty that lures the person in, it may be an allure of escape or of relief, but it varies from person to person. However, once you're in that spiral the road is the same for most.