The Colors of Love: The Art

By Patty Swyden Sullivan © 2004

Can two young adults pursue separate lives driven by individual interests and goals and also create a life as a couple? Where does the individual life end and the couple's life begin? Is sacrifice inherent in a relationship to survive? How quickly must adulthood be reached and to what extent can an individual control the quality of life designated to begin at a number instead of at a point of readiness? In Herster's poignant photographs, she reveals the loneliness of struggling with these issues even as an intimate relationship progresses. Does loving someone lighten the assimilation into adulthood or make one more vulnerable to the trappings created by expectations?

The isolation of an emergent self poised slightly apart from the elements of daily life is demonstrated by photographs of physical intimacy against the backdrop of unpacked boxes, randomly strewn personal items in an otherwise unadorned urban apartment, wall hangings propped unwrapped on the floor, a television turned on in a room facing an uninhabited couch, and the constant pressure of time passing as internal conflicts remain unresolved.

The courage to admit such a dilemma exists—between pursuing a relationship and formulating ones own identity—is riveting in its naked honesty. Herster employs vivid imagery to portray the hesitant interaction in a relationship: a fragment of a head barely visible in a mirror's glass is in the foreground as a man leans his half-toweled body against a wall constructed so narrowly that the confinement it creates causes a quick intake of breath testing the scarcity of air. This keen photograph illustrates the elusive component inherent in the transition from a solitaire life to a fully disclosed committed relationship. We are voyeurs snatching glimpses of this couple as they engage, retreat, and attempt tentative steps towards a life of their making. Will this life be worth the effort"?