Secrets

Oil on Canvas

Monique Martin

2010

Forever, Never,

Et toujours. Et jamais

We submit to a type of death when gazing upon that which we should not. Just as when we hold a secret we submit to a type of death because it is in the holding of the secret that ours live are forever altered and true freedom can never be attained. Nothing goes away and all changes with secrets.

A person with a secret is like a person with an object in their hand that they must conceal each moment of their lives. The very nature of every movement and thought is altered. Depending on what the secret is and how it is held the impact can be very large or small.

We keep secrets from ourselves. It is sometimes in keeping these personal secrets that we believe that we can accomplish the impossible and with which we judge ourselves. Sometimes the secrets of our own inadequacy can push us to try things we never thought possible and push the boundaries of our skills helping us to become better and more accomplished people.

This series was inspired by my daughter’s fight with an eating disorder. The secrets and the holding of that secret have forever altered my life and hers.