The Valley of the Shadow

About this artwork

When I think of “Shadowlands”, C.S.Lewis together with Narnia, Aslan and Psalm 23 come to mind. C.S.Lewis used the term to refer to his grief over losing his wife, Joy. But C.S. Lewis had his first encounter with Shadowlands in 1908, at the age of 10, when his mother died. This year was also the year that Cubism became popular. In this painting, I have brought these threads together, using geometric shapes to express the emotion, fear, grief and trauma – but also the relative power of the characters. Aslan is pictured as the Shepherd, walking beside the sheep, keeping the wolves at bay. The cliffs are sharp, foreboding and real, but there is hope too. As the Psalmist says, “Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” The shadows that I am currently facing are to do with cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, injustice and grief, but I find hope in the fact that where there are shadows, there is also light. Mary Pearce, May 2021