“Fig-ment” | Acrylic on Canvas

I fell in love with the concept of "The Fig Tree" after reading a passage from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. The metaphor of the fig tree connects a person to the opportunities laid out before them, symbolized as "figs". In the metaphor, the tree represents your life, and each fig is a physical manifestation of all of the choices you have before you. Plath's metaphor highlights the anxiety and devastation that comes with choosing the right fig from your tree - the right path to follow in your life- and how the unchosen fruit will rot if not picked.

This metaphor met me during a time in my life where I was facing the fear of choosing my own figs. The anxiety of it, and the lost feeling, was incurable. So I decided to do what I always do when I feel like "real life" is too confusing. I made art.

I chose to put paint on canvas as a way of directing the uncertainty. And with each branch, each leaf, each fig, and each choice, my path became clearer and so did the image I was creating.

I chose a fig of my own that released me from my fear and gave me courage to make some difficult decisions. This piece represents a part of my life that I hold very dearly and will always remind me that sometimes your life is worth picking fruit for.