The Weight Of The World

This image was developed from a sketch made at a pub in Newport, South Wales. It was the end of a long evening; a woman sat rather exhausted, her young children had been running around expelling energy all evening. At times she had tried to control them, but to little avail. In the end she just had a fag, a drink and waited for them to tire.
The image evolved slowly over a number of years as I encountered more and more single mums (as this woman turned out to be ) in similar situations. Weighed down by their responsibility towards their children and the expectations of a fast changing society, many turned to drugs to give them a break from their thoughts.
The image includes many visual symbols to indicate the inner worlds of the characters portrayed.

 Original £495