Shining DESPAIR
Holland Houdek
USA

Neckpiece « Hysteroscopy », 2023
Copper, crystals, patina, 406x89x6.35mm
Hand-fabrication, stone setting
Photo : Grant Taylor

Neckpiece « Oophorectomy », 2023
Copper, crystals, patina, 390x110x10mm
Hand fabrication, stone setting
Photo : Grant Taylor

Words fail in the face of miscarriage. Our thoughts, like our bodies, betray us. Grief, isolation, shame, blame, and other unnamable feelings cloud one’s ability to articulate the pain of this harrowing yet all-to-common natural event. Against the inadequacy of language and the silences that surround this taboo subject, I turned to the process of making to confront this unnamable loss and to help shift my and other people’s perceptions of miscarriage and pregnancy loss. The pieces in this series helped me to un-make and re-make that deep and embodied pain into something transformative. They call attention to the need to find personal ways to cope, persevere, and make sense of life in the face of loss, while reminding women and people with uteruses who have had similar experiences that they are not alone.

More « Shining DESPAIR »

Shining Despair – Lily Pree / Greece

Despair is the lack of little breathless reflections.

Shining Despair – Willy vande Velde / Belgium

The ring is part of the communication series.

Shining Despair – Arisa Inoue / Japan

It’s not uncommon for darkness to cast a shadow over the human heart.

Shining Despair – Jeannette Knigge / Netherlands

Looking at the world from behind your curtains, untouchable yet vulnerable.

Shining Despair – Eunhee Cho / South Korea

I have experienced two trials in my life.

Shining Despair – Isabelle Busnel / France

Human race is doomed. We are destroying the planet at a pace never seen before.

Shining Despair – Marta Alonso / Spain

Mayfly, an ephemeral flight and Glimpse the universe …

Shining Despair – Lena Lindahl / Sweden

Half of the world’s coral reefs have vanished since 1950.

Shining Despair – Aimee Howard-Clinger / USA

The western world can be defined by the adage ‘knowledge is power’.

Shining Despair – Rikke Lunnemann / Denmark

‘It is clear to all of us that the degree of the current chaos in the world is caused by our own actions….‘