Crowns of Childhood

Ashlynn W.

Digital Photography

• Artist Statement

  To me, childhood looks like raspberries. As a young child, I, like many others, loved crowning my fingertips with raspberries, then plucking them off one by one to eat. In this piece, Crowns of Childhood, I wanted to visualize what it feels like to grow up. The child’s hand, adorned with raspberries—is open at first, but with each panel, closes a little further. Raspberries upon tiny fingertips are the epitome of the innocence and playfulness of youth, but even that cannot escape the slow curling of the hand—the inevitable thing that is growing up. It’s something inescapable, yet beautiful at the same time, as even though the raspberries collapse, they stain the skin a vibrant, rich red. As I myself am nearing adulthood, I visualize more and more that little hand coming to a close. But I’m hoping that my hands stay stained—sweet and a brilliant red.

• Creative Statement

  Creativity is a spontaneous expression of oneself, a way to bring inner thoughts, feelings, and ideas into reality in an original form.