The Creation of Eve by Nox Purratu

"Heaven or Hell" was a question that I thought about a lot growing up in a religious household. My parents are religious, and so were my grandparents on both sides. Hell, I was even baptized by my own grandpa. I'm no stranger to the idea of eternal damnation and it's something that's plagued me well into adulthood. I never fit in at church, I was the weird little kid dressed in all black who liked vampire novels, horror movies, and my favorite holiday was always Halloween. As an adult, I still don't know where I fit in. This design is a love letter to the little kid who now has the freedom to explore but the burden to reconcile everything she was curious about as a child.

Every detail of this design is an attempt to answer that very question, heaven, or hell? I don't think I'm any closer to an answer, but it's been an interesting experience to try. I could ramble about the layers of symbolism I packed into this shirt for ages, so here's just a few of my favorite notes. The frame, which is full of traditionally "feminine" elements including the bleeding roses with seraphim wings and the blood moon lunar cycle represents how the question is framed through my perspective as a woman. The more elaborate crown of the frame, as well as the "holy wound" or stigmata on the dominant hand all pointing towards heaven are indicative of of the "proper orientation" towards heaven. In direct opposition, the more feminine hand with its long seemingly sinister manicure reaching towards hell perfectly mimics the gesture associated with "As above, so below", but by mirroring the hands, I wanted to explore the idea of the feminine hand reaching for the divine just as Eve did. She was cast out in her quest for knowledge, now I'm picking up where she left off.

If you think this is cool you can find me on Instagram.com/noxpurratu