Published by Routledge, 2023
Committed by Rael Meyerowitz, the author, for his psychological academic book named “Mourning and Metabolization: Close Readings in the Psychoanalytic Literature of Loss – Tavistock Clinic Series”.
From the Inbox: Metaphors, Mourning, and Metabolism
Now and then, an email lands in my inbox that completely shifts my creative gears. Back in 2021, I received one of those exact messages from Tracey Miller, who was helping her husband—the psychoanalyst, academic, and writer Rael Meyerowitz—commission an illustration for his upcoming book cover.
They were working on a deeply profound project and reached out with a prompt that was as challenging as it was fascinating. Tracey wrote:
“Thanks for the quick response! It’s a psychological book about mourning and internal worlds, using digestive and metabolic metaphors—so nothing too literal or representational, but perhaps with some digestive and anatomical elements. The pieces which caught my eye were: Opera Face, Amsterdam Zomer, New Life. In particular, Amsterdam Zomer has a sort of digestive look about it!”
Decoding the Prompt: The Mind Behind the Book
When an author asks for “digestive and metabolic metaphors” to represent the internal world of grief, you don’t just paint a stomach and call it a day. They weren’t looking for a literal, textbook anatomy lesson; they were looking for an emotional landscape.
To understand the depth of this brief, it helps to understand Rael’s background. With a rich career spanning literature, philosophy, and over twenty years as a psychoanalyst at the Tavistock Clinic in London, Rael’s work bridges the gap between the mind and the somatic (body) experience.
His book explores a powerful concept: we don’t just “get over” loss; we metabolise it. Mourning is psychic digestion. We have to take the heavy, complex reality of loss, break it down, and slowly assimilate it into our internal world so it becomes a part of who we are. Tracey had noted that a few of my existing pieces—Opera Face, New Life, and especially Amsterdam Zomer—already carried that organic, visceral quality. Amsterdam Zomer, with its specific textures, perfectly mirrored this concept of somatic processing.
Collaboration and the Dual-Concept Sketch
To really get to the heart of the book’s psychological depth, I got on a video call with Tracey and Rael. Speaking face-to-face helped clarify the vision, allowing me to formalise the design brief and get straight to the drawing board.
I wanted to create something that wasn’t just a static image but an interactive experience that reflected the book’s core themes. I returned to them with a proposed sketch and a note explaining the concept:
“I have tried several designs/illustrations, and I found this version would fit most for a book cover and its key concepts.
The drawing is designed to be flexible for the layout on the book cover; you can crop it for different layouts, whether ‘Square’, ‘Horizontal’, or ‘Vertical’, so we don’t have to decide now.
The draft could be interpreted in two ways. One is to emphasise the neuro of the brain (Memories), but when you turn it upside down, it’s to emphasise the digestive system.”
The idea of a reversible image perfectly captured the duality of mourning—how the mind holds onto memories, while the body physically processes the weight of loss.
From Paper to Digital: The Final Evolution
After presenting the ideas, we decided to move forward with Version A.
With the direction officially confirmed, I set to work on the final A3 drawing, diving deep into the intricate details, textures, and symbolic linework that the larger canvas allowed. Both Rael and Tracey loved the final piece. The collaboration culminated in a beautiful physical release when the book, titled Mourning and Metabolization: Close Readings in the Psychoanalytic Literature of Loss, was officially published by Routledge.
Exploring Mixed Media
Even after the core project was complete, the artwork kept living in my mind. I brought the original drawing into the digital realm to push the concept even further.
By incorporating digital editing, I was able to experiment with variations in colour, contrast, and layout. This mixed-media approach allowed me to create a series of distinct, standalone designs all born from that single, versatile piece of art.
It’s always incredible to look back at the exact moment a project sparked. Tracey and Rael’s book reminded me why I love what I do: art has this unique ability to give a visual language to the things we can barely put into words—like the slow, internal processing of loss.
