Shining DESPAIR
Sara Shahak
Israel

Necklace “Depth of gilded agony”, 2023-2024
Iron, Brass, Cotton waxed thread, pigments, 430x190x35mm
Cutting, Sawing, soldering, painting, threading
Photo : Shlomi Bernthal

« Flowers are weak creatures, naive. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe their thorns are terrible weapons. » — The Little Prince

Can beauty or light emerge from brokenness and anguish? Moments of despair may offer only fleeting glimpses of hope, reflecting the fragility of the human experience.

I designed a large chain of iron thorn-like flowers. Their forms are sharp, rigid, and menacing, with textures that evoke feelings of pain, danger, and discomfort. Yet, at the tips of the thorns, I applied golden pigments, representing light, sparkle, and value—a radiance born from the sharpness of suffering.
The golden accents create a tension between beauty and suffering, as the gilded thorn tips embody resilience, while still can emphasize a balance between anguish and grace.

They suggest an optimistic notion that beauty and hope can sometimes emerge even from the sharpest edges of despair.

Or is it just a “gilded” hope?

This duality of fragility and strength, darkness and radiance, silence and expression, lies at the core of the work.

More « Shining DESPAIR »

Shining Despair – Maud Traon/ UK

« This Mess We Are All In » was created in 2021, a year when the first aftermath of the long COVID period began to take hold…

Shining Despair – Isabelle Busnel / France

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

Shining Despair – Thu Huong Nguyen / Vietnam

Cicada in The Changing Age is my venture into embracing the rapid rise of technology …

Shining Despair – Sunyoung Cheong / USA

As an immigrant mother and artist from South Korea, my work reflects the dualities of migration …

Shining Despair – Yichen Dong & Stacey Huang / China

Many spend their lives chasing ‘key moments,’ …

Shining Despair – Malene Kastalje / Denmark

I am preoccupied with the unpredictable and abnormal aspects of life.

Shining Despair – Donald Friedlich / USA

For most of us despair comes and goes.

Shining Despair – Aya Iwata / Japan

The theme « Shining Despair » merges two opposing concepts: brilliance and despair.

Shining Despair – Sébastien Carré / France

In these complicated times we are living through I feel quite angered …

Shining Despair – Anna Talbot / Norway

The series ‘Pressed Flowers’ is inspired by my memories of my grandfather’s garden from my childhood.