“Her Breath is a Lotus”
I made this piece depicting the rise of Asian hate crimes in the United States.
Within my piece, there is a woman submerged under the depths in which she has been condemned.
Under the surface, because our society would not see past her own. Within this whirlpool, she drowns in prejudice and violence. Her breath leaves her. Yet her strength, her heritage, her blood, her identity does not die.
Her blood becomes the veins within the lotus flower. Her breath in each petal. The lotus flower symbolizes peace, harmony, rebirth and anew. Because even when its roots are in the dirtiest of water, it will still produce and bloom a thing of beauty.
Hate will never erase.
As her roots reach, as other hands reach out, to touch, to hold, to comfort, to help, in strength, and solidarity. The flower made out of the ugliest of hate, blood, ignorance, only ignites reaction, action and justice.
The muddiness nourishes the roots for the blossom of liberation.
Her daggers of petals, innate.
This was made with colored pencils and 20 x 16 paper.
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