Tide (Regain) II


I was trying through this drawing to depict that occasional feeling of indignation when you feel like you're too delicate or sensitive for the world (in a kind of dramatic, over the top way). But there is a lot that is going on that is shocking and strange (politically and culturally), and it can be a lot to grapple with sometimes if you try to confront it head on.

After working on this drawing I watched the new film about Joan Didion over the weekend called The Center Will Not Hold, and felt like it was related in some ways to my drawing. I have read many of Didion's books and essays spanning her career and even had the chance to hear her speak once in person in Los Angeles. The film takes you through what she was doing in life in parallel with her writing and is called The Center Will Not Hold because early on she reaches a point where she has stopped writing because she does not know how to make sense of how she fits into the world.

Didion's essay "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" represents one successful turning point where she writes critically about the chaos and disorder around her -- specifically about what is going on in the Haight in the late 60s -- a period of time that I generally romanticize. I remember reading that essay as a teenager (my mom loves Didion and we had it at home) and being struck by her feeling of discomfort. Although I probably would not have had the same take on San Francisco in the 60's (she comes across as socially conservative to me) this feeling is something I can relate to in other contexts. 

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