Congressional Art Competition 2021

Natalia Flores
Memento Mori

My artwork explores the relationship between life and death, and the beauty from within that. The words “Memento Mori” are a phrase in latin meaning “remember you must die”, and to me that means that death is inevitable and it is okay. Death is inescapable and with that thought inside our minds can make us live a more sober life, being more open to different things that will eventually come into your life. That’s why I drew an hourglass, the sand from the  top has no choice but to go to the bottom, the white sand turning black at the bottom. While the top glass symbolizes the new life and pure moments in life, full bloomed blossoms and butterflies are hanging around. But at the same time the bottom glass has cracks and dying flowers, the black sand covering the skull representing death will overcome us at the end of the line.  

I have always been scared of death and never wished to die young, knowing what this phrase is kind of helps me in a weird way. It calms me knowing everyone I know will pass away eventually, it shows that everything we do is a staple in our life. I love coloring with pens and markers, so I took the time to do bits of pointillism and even a bit of small bits of cross hatching as well.Overall I really enjoyed how this piece turned out, it is very big and I was able to make the small details that I wanted on it without overdoing anything.