Silva’s work, Reap What You Sow: A prescription for Life presents an interesting concept. To describe the work, a barn swallow is presented, stealing a pill in its mouth. The Swallow is landing in a small patch of grass, which if you look closely, you can see that they look like hands, which are grasping at the pills found scattered within the plants. This whole scene sits on top of a book which title reads “Reap What You Sow: A Prescription for Life.” In the corner of the book, a small file-like drawer is opened, labeled “Barn Swallow.” Inside are many little file-like pages. Underneath this part of the book, a spoon sits, propping up one corner of the piece.
As you can tell, there are many metaphors that Silva uses to emphasize her work. Her own words for some of the ideas are amazingly insightful. She states that her main three reasons for beginning this piece were: “1) my recent discovery that I was allergic to penicillin. 2) The alarming amount of antibiotics in the foods we eat every day, and 3) the need for many to go over the border to acquire affordable prescriptions.” While Silva has her own interpretation of the piece, she prefers the subtle approach, and with the many metaphors within the piece, an onlooker may not notice them at first, and instead return for the beauty of the piece. Upon returning, one can look critically and make their own assumption on the piece.
The greatest strength of this piece, I feel, is the stunning attention to detail and the thought
