FRAGILITY
Sara Shahak
Israel

Between a glass bell and an iron pendant, a material tension arises that embodies fragility as an existential condition. The glass bell, functioning as a greenhouse, seeks to protect and preserve, yet it exposes the limits of protection and the vulnerability inherent in the very act of preservation.
The pendant, made of iron sourced from industrial bells, creates an unexpected encounter between two worlds of the “bell”, glass versus metal.
Its thorny structure projects strength and inaccessibility, yet the slow rusting reveals its hidden vulnerability. This contrast raises a question: does strength truly signify endurance, or is it merely a thin shell concealing fear and exposure? And what are thorns in nature, if not a survival mechanisms that conceal softness within?
Strength falters, and the paradox becomes clear: the guarding vessel is delicate and fragile, while the pendant appears tough yet is in a stage of weakening. This reveals a shared truth that the impulse to protect, to preserve, and the need to build a wall of thorns, is itself a testament to the fear of breaking and to the deep recognition that fracture may occur.

Necklace « I am hiding », 2025
170X170X170 mm / 930 gr
Readymade Glass bell, Iron, Brass, 12K Gold-filled chain, miniature Glass balls, Glass paints, Rust
Sowing, cutting, melting, shaping, soldering, painting, gluing, polishing, rusting
Photo : Shlomi Bernthal

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Jeanne-Sophie Aas / Norway

FRAGILITYJeanne-Sophie AasNorwayControlling fragility is the core of my practice. Working with glass feels like a relationship: a cooperation where we both have needs and limits. We discover and grow together, but we are also able to hurt each other. Hot glass needs...

Fragility – Malene Kastalje / Denmark

FRAGILITYMalene KastaljeDenmarkIt was after the storm. I watched myself in the brown puddle of water. Unrecognizable. A cloud moved behind me. A bit of wind and the surface trembled, scattering my face and folding it into small, moving pieces. The ground was still...

Fragility – Sareh Zarghampour / Belgium

FRAGILITYSareh ZarghampourBelgiumWe give pain meaning through the moments we live with it. I explore pain not merely as a physical reaction, but as an emotional, internal state something deeply tied to human fragility. Pain is a personal and often invisible...

Fragility – Einav Benzano / France

FRAGILITYEinav BenzanoFranceThis project contemplates HOME as a fragile talisman — a place that shelters and soothes, yet trembles with vulnerability and uncertainty. The pieces are made from mop floorcloth, a material that unravels thread by thread when touched. To...

Fragility – Luisa Mucedola / Italy

FRAGILITYLuisa MucedolaItalyThrough tempered glass – strong yet vulnerable – I explore the human condition, its balance between resistance and dissolution.In each crack and fragment, I find the truth of living: strength born from limits, beauty emerging when...

Fragility – Joshua Kosker / USA

FRAGILITYJoshua KoskerUnited States This brooch is an exploration of time, place, and the residue of human existence. One of its components—a fragment of tile found in the ruins of Pompeii—speaks to the fragility of ancient civilizations and the lasting imprint of...

Fragility – Noa Yankovitch / Israel

FRAGILITYNoa YankovitchIsraelMy work examines the tension between closeness and distance, the fragile space where connection and separation coexist. I'm interested in how intimacy changes shape when it’s tested: when presence becomes absence, when touch turns into...

Fragility – Patricia Gallucci / Argentina

FRAGILITYPatricia GallucciArgentinaHow do we move forward; how do we leave fear, memories, untold, everyday anxieties, if we are made out of them, if we keep them under our skin, if they are also part of today? When body and mind are one. Light is darkness Dream,...

Fragility – Galit Barak / Israel

FRAGILITYGalit BarakIsraelThe artworks feature red gravel stones arranged on a mesh net facing inwards. These stones were sourced from the area of Al-Kunayyisa, an Arab village that was occupied and ethnically cleansed in 1948. Today, the village's ruins are difficult...

Fragility – Youjin Um / South Korea

FRAGILITYYoujin UmSouth KoreaIn the daily life of the beginning and the repetition, I take the center of my mind and begin to walk on the map I drew. A lot of steps that sometimes went straight along the mind map to work or recharge, and then back again. Create...