Brileigh Hardcastle

The subject of death is one that I became acquainted with at a young age. Through my experiences of dealing with the loss of others, and recognizing my own mortality, I have come to develop both a fascination and an anxiety around the topic. Constantly surrounded by images and objects in my childhood home which contain symbols and references to death, its ability to be present everywhere has been reinforced while growing up. There are also many traditions and superstitions around death that I have heard through stories passed down from family and friends. Beyond my own experiences, its presence can be found through nature, or even depicted in unrelated subjects that may have a formal likeness to symbols such as a grave hole or a coffin that I now encounter in my day-to-day life.

These constant observations reaffirm the inevitability of death, as its presence can be found anywhere and should be acknowledged rather than suppressed or avoided. When trying to get around the thought of death as an obstacle, I realize it affects my ability to confront and come to terms with mortality. Rooted in a cathartic need to relieve myself of my anxieties, this project functions to depict a range of seeing images where death’s presence can be found, as a way of coming to accept and acknowledge it.