This art piece is a hand-painted (acrylic) artwork on black cardboard. In this artwork, there are three main components: the moon, the numbers, and the hour & the minute hands. The moon: Moon symbolizes an individual in their later life here. I choose to symbolize the elderly individual as a shining moon because the light (wisdom) that they are constantly spreading that they got from their experiences (the scars of the moon) throughout this life journey, helps to navigate the younger people who are walking through the complexity of life, especially hard time which might be perceived as a space which is bleak and void. The moon phases: The moon phases symbolize the cycle of life to death. This is showcased in this artwork to symbolize that, for an elderly individual, philosophically, they are born when they wake up and die when they go to sleep, and this cycle continues till the physical death. This philosophy depicts that, during our early stages of life, individuals are running towards something in their lives for them, their family, their responsibility, etc. which connects every day to next the days, months, and years because of their commitments. But in the old stages, individuals are almost done with their commitments and their relationship with the present is stronger because they are focusing on the present rather than planning their future or running towards success, hence their joy, happiness, and sadness begin and end within a day. So, the image portrays that an individual is connected to the present moment, and they go around the cycle of life to death in a day and every day is a new life! The numbers: I wanted to choose a clock, which can symbolise the whole day, which compliments my idea of the cycle of life to death in a day. So, this clock diagram has Roman numbers from 0-23, depicting the 24 hours in the day. The hour and the minute hands in the clock: I chose to paint the clock hands in red. I wanted to symbolise that there is a great significance in them for an elderly individual, from the stories that are shared with me. There is a great shift in relationship with time as an individual moves through their life. From a person running behind time in the younger stage, as we near the older stages, the roles shift, and time is dragging an Individual in a day. People try and find things to do, to keep themselves engaged to pass their time in the day. Also, as an individual gets old, they might acquire health conditions for which they have to intake regular tablets, which revolves around time in a day and that shapes a lot of other parts of the individual’s life. Hence, the hour and the minute hands are painted red to depict their power and significance in an elderly individual life.

I grew up with my grandparents for a significant period of my life, which created a close bond with them. Hence they share a lot with me about their day and the experiences that they go through regularly. Also my friends mother lives with us here in Lawrence, who is 60 years old, so looking at her experiences everyday, in addition to my grandparents experiences gave me some valuable insights, which inspired me to do this art work, this piece is my understanding of their everyday life.