Savannah Bonds

I’m Here

My work explores the complexity of my relationship with my mother as I took on the roles of daughter and caregiver during the decline of her health. I use digital artistry to compose my memories into scenes quickly and efficiently, but with traditional brushes and textures that connect me to the intimacy of my memories. Referencing children’s books in scale and stylistic approach, I explore their emotive colors and narrative driven scenes to express my own child-like inexperience and fear in the face of loss, as well as my mother’s fall into a child-like role as she became unable to care for herself. These intimate memories convey an all too common human need for empathetic connection in our society. Perhaps by sharing the most vulnerable parts of myself, I can foster a more understanding and compassionate humanity.

Thesis Committee Members: 

• Professor Aaron McElfish, Chair
• Professor Ben Harvey
• Professor Alex Bostic

Moments Like These

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $100 

Daughter chats with her mother at the dining table.

Enough Time

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $100 

Daughter chats with her mother while filling her mother’s bird feeder for her.

Enough Attention

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $100 

Mother and daughter reminisce over family photos.

Facing It

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $100 

Mother and daughter come to terms with end of life care.

Anxiety

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $200 

Daughter anxiously checks on her mother while she sleeps.

Giving

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $100 

Daughter feeds her mother in bed.

Aware

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $150 

Daughter helps her mother as she collapses in the kitchen.

Afraid

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $150 

Daughter comforts her crying mother in her bedroom.

There’s No Running Away

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $150 

Daughter looks on anxiously as paramedics aid her unconscious mother.

Guilty

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $150 

Daughter looks anxiously and fearfully at her unconscious mother being escorted out of the home in a gurney.

Never Ready

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $150 

Daughter anguishes alone at the kitchen table.

Presence

Procreate, 12”x 10”, 2021, $200 

Mother passes surrounded by her family and friends under hospice care.