susanhollowayart@gmail.com [651 497 1263]

www.susan-hollloway.com

Tangled Reflections

"a lexicon of imagery"

Contact Susan to discuss commissioning work to tell a story.

Arrowhead plant

Symbolizes personal growth, transformation, and positive energy. Its unique leaves are shaped like a compass’s directional arrow, representing forward movement and intuition. As it matures, the plant shifts in shape and climbs, acting as a living metaphor for continuous evolution.

Bleeding Heart

Bleeding Heart symbolizes sorrow and lost love. For others, it is a symbol of beauty and positive energy. Bloom colors are often associated with positive energy, love, friendship, and warmth at home. There is a dark side to this beauty: the flowers are poisonous.

Trillium

Consciousness, embodiment, mutuality. Encourages integration of personal energy into a universal matrix. Invokes celebration and compassion. The trillium flower balances between the material and spiritual worlds. It assists one in understanding the bounty of love, abundance, and earthly pleasure. Modest beauty

Dodder Vine

Dodder is an herb. People use the parts that grow above the ground to make medicine. Dodder is used to treat urinary tract, spleen, and hepatic disorders. Dodder is a parasitic vine recognizable by its leafless, spaghetti-like yellow or orange threads. It lacks chlorophyll and survives entirely by wrapping around host plants and extracting nutrients. Though often considered an agricultural pest, its seeds and stems are used in traditional medicine. Dodder is frequently utilized in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Extracts from the seeds are typically taken to support kidney health, improve reproductive function, relieve lower back or knee pain, and as a source of antioxidants.

Morning Glory

Morning glory plants are poisonous. The seeds contain alkaloids that can cause severe physiological and neurological distress, including intense nausea, vomiting, and disorientation. Morning glories primarily symbolize renewal, affection, and the transient nature of life. Because their trumpet-shaped blossoms unfurl at dawn and wither by afternoon, they are deeply connected to the present moment, new beginnings, and mortality.

In Japanese culture, the flower (known as asagao) represents the beauty of youth and the gentle sadness of things passing. Similarly, in Christian symbolism, a single morning glory represents a single human life fading by nightfall.

Trumpet Vine

Gives us rebirth and transitions of awakenings, opening us up to innocence through its hypnotic beauty and grace. Angel Trumpet has been used in small doses for visions by witches and indigenous tribes as a tool of self-discovery and shamanic ceremonies.

Crane

The pondering crane is a rich symbol of focus, patience, and quiet watchfulness. Cultures view it as a wise creature, a messenger of the gods, and a sacred bridge between heaven and earth.