Artist • Cynthia Young
Humber Role • Professor and Program Coordinator Content Strategy Graduate Certificate Faculty of Media and Creative Arts
Work • Swimming alongside our children
Medium • Watercolour on paper
Artist Statement • We swim alongside as our children grow. At the start of every school year it always felt like they had somehow grown before my eyes, they had learned so much already and yet there was so much more to learn. It was always that time of year when pants were suddenly too short and shoes bought only months ago seem too small. I look at the children this year going into class and what they’ve had to learn about. What we’ve been swimming alongside them and learning about too.
Masks.
Hand washing.
Social distancing.
Being close to others is dangerous.
Bad leaders.
Racism.
We can all feel the waves of these events. It’s impossible to think that our children can’t feel the waves too.
I cannot imagine the tough decisions parents face today. I can only encourage us to all to pace ourselves. Find a rhythm that is a unique to your family, to your bubble, your school of fish. Plan your days with your loved ones so they can see which waves are coming. Show them you’re also swimming alongside and you’ll slow down if they need too. Less pulling and pushing to get things done, less overcommitting and over planning their days. Look at how much they’ve had to learn!
Give yourself and your children the pace and the space to swim through what we are all facing.