Danger High Voltage & Water Forgets Nothing

By Alex Cole

“Danger, High Voltage” and “Water Forgets Nothing” are two images from my photographic printmaking series, Black and Blue. Both are conceptual landscapes shaped by the time I spent in Beaufort, South Carolina, in the years following my father’s death, during the height of the global pandemic (2020–2023). Created as photogravure etchings, these works trace a personal narrative of grief and transformation while also reflecting the shifting tensions and bonds within my family after his loss. COVID-19 imposed isolation, yet I found myself held within a landscape that was at once haunting and beautiful. The Lowcountry became both my witness and guide. The Spanish moss and tidal waters cradled my grief and quietly supported my growth.

“Danger, High Voltage” depicts a lightning strike in the distance behind a crowded marina. In the foreground, two electrical boxes marked “Danger, High Voltage” stand side by side. The image speaks to the darker dimensions of healing: storm clouds gather over the Intracoastal Waterway, while the boxes take on a human-like presence, evoking the steadfastness my mother and I embodied as we endured the early stages of grief together. Numerical motifs appear throughout the composition as metaphors for family members, grief, and a connection to something beyond the visible.

“Water Forgets Nothing,” also drawn from the Intracoastal landscape, presents a near-perfect reflection of a dock and two boats in still water. The image explores the duality of grief—its weight and generative potential. Numerology again informs both subject and structure: the two boats stand in for my brother and me, while the dock represents my mother, the anchor who held us together during this difficult period. The mirrored surface underscores the tension between grief and growth, suggesting that the two are not opposites but reflections that coexist.

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