Now It's My Turn was a very emotional piece for me in that it deals with addiction, in this case, alcoholism, a demon that has haunted my family for too many years. The addiction shook the very foundation, from which my family stood, and eventually destroyed it. Alcoholism not only broke apart of the family structure, it took my father and then it started to come after me. Well, now it's my turn to battle it before it takes me down too. That is what this piece is all about, conquering my demons; refusing to let addiction take hold of my life, and realizing there is a light at the end of his long dark tunnel I have been in. That light is hope. It's not too late for me; I won't let it be.
For my final visual statement, I wanted to address an aspect of my life that I had always had a difficult time dealing with- that is this addiction called alcoholism. I had addressed the subject in my first set of submissions, reflecting on how I had lost my father to alcoholism, and I was worried about going down that same path; a road that leads nowhere. So when it came time to seriously contemplate what I wanted to do for my final piece, I knew I had to bookend the semester by addressing the issue of this addiction yet again. Only this time, I am overpowering it, instead of the addiction overpowering me.
When I envisioned doing a piece on alcoholism, the first thing that came to mind was how cool it would be to break some beer bottles. Not only for the effect it would contribute to my piece, but also because it was a great way to let out the anger I feel towards alcohol. In the center of all those broken pieces of beer bottles, emerges a face from the depth of the hell that it witnessed, to show that it has made its way to the surface after being smothered by alcohol. Over the face is a fabric, a slight barrier, if you will, that is almost preventing her from breaking through. However, to each side she is surrounded by light, glimmering with hope, thus assuring her that there is a way out. [Note: the two candles show up as white circles on the side of the face.]
