C PORTER
Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College Year 10

‘Lilith’
A3. Coloured pencil on Derwent paper.

According to a Hebrew folk tale, Adam had a wife (Lilith) before Eve. Lilith, who refused to submit to Adam, was banished from the Garden of Eden and compelled to wander the Earth in the form of a demon. I attempted to incorporate the magic of plants and the eternal vehemence of Adam and Lilith by portraying the lovers as trees interwoven. The green deer is a fey (faerie), guised in one of its various forms. I endeavoured to represent the theme of plant magic as something that has existed since the dawn of time – hence I focused on the Biblical tale of Adam and Lilith, who came even before Eve herself. The howling spirits in the background are derived from those seen in Indigenous rock paintings and are a symbolic representation of man’s closeness to the earth, which bears new life from her muddied womb in the form of plants; and hence all life. Indeed, it is the relationship between creatures and plants that is, in itself, truly magical.
I drew inspiration from numerous sources, in particular the stunning, exquisite works of Brian Froud and Alan Lee. I used coloured pencil, as it is a versatile medium.