Dance in the Sky by Kendra Bidwell Ferreira
Photopolymer plate aquatint printed on hand-colored Sekishu Japanese paper applied chine collé to Fabriano Rosaspina paper
Image 7.5” x 7.5”
Dance in the Sky
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. In 2018 over 48,000 Americans committed suicide and there were approximately 1.4 million attempts. A large majority of people who commit suicide suffer from one or more mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or substance abuse. Depression can play a large role; a severely depressed person may not be able to think clearly enough to imagine a solution other than ending his or her life and may feel so much pain that there seems to be no other option to escape the suffering.
Studies show that most suicidal people are conflicted about ending their lives. They look for an alternative but just cannot find one. Even a severely depressed person has mixed feelings about wanting to live and wanting to die —- they just wish to stop the pain. For those who are not in the grasp of depression and despair this can be difficult to understand. However, with our help a person’s decision to end his or her life can be changed.
Last year one of my best friends shocked all her family and friends by ending her life. She had been a vibrant, talkative, happy, beautiful woman who was loved by so many people. Then a change in her life sent her into a place of deep depression and hopelessness. Doctors, therapy and medication were unable to pull her out. Her husband, family and friends struggled to understand her pain and to help. Sadly, we realized after she died that she had been secretly planning her escape.
It was a horrible loss for everyone who loved her. She literally left a path of destruction behind. Death by suicide is sudden, often violent, and always unexpected. The grief process for family and friends can be complex and traumatic with an overwhelming mixture of feelings such as guilt, anger and confusion.
My hope is to increase suicide awareness so that we may have a better understanding of someone who is suffering and perhaps help to save a life. My print is dedicated to my special friend, Dina. To me she is like the butterfly, beautiful and free, always flying somewhere in the universe.