Shining DESPAIR
Eliane-Catrie Blouin Achim
Canada

Bracelet “Shadows of compassion”, 2024
Bronze, liquid enamel, 90 mm diameter, 20 mm width, 13 mm thickness
Wax carving and lost wax casting
Photo : RL Black

Brooch “Sparkling sorrow”, 2024
Bronze, resin, pigments, 65 mm diameter, 25 mm thickness
Wax carving and lost wax casting, riveting
Photo : R.L. Black

« Rose Cochon »

With the Rose Cochon series, Éliane-Catrie Blouin Achim expresses a profound sense of despair by addressing the issue of animal ethics through works where beauty and discomfort coexist in tension. In her bronze jewelry-sculptures, clusters of pigs and calves are frozen into indistinct masses, suggesting the loss of individual identity.

Pink, traditionally associated with innocence, takes on an ironic tone here, transforming softness into a quiet, almost muted provocation. These works, both alluring and unsettling, evoke contradictory feelings that invite self-reflection. By exploiting this paradox between attraction and aversion, the artist sheds light on our blindness and complacency toward animal suffering. These pieces thus transcend mere adornments; they reflect our inner contradictions and invite us to question our relationship with all living beings.

More « Shining DESPAIR »

Shining Despair – Iris Merkle / Germany

Vital functions are usually listened to with a stethoscope …

Shining Despair – Minami Hiranuma / Japan

The motif of this work is my feelings when I picked up my grandmother’s bones.

Shining Despair – Elvira Cibotti / Argentina

I don’t always find the energy to overcome sadness or worry.

Shining Despair – Katherine Hubble / Australia

Cultured pearls are created by implanting an irritant into an oyster.

Shining Despair – Jeanine van der Linde / Netherlands

In today’s world, where we face significant challenges …

Shining Despair – Pilar Viedma / Spain

As every year, at the beginning of autumn, the Mediterranean people know that one day the floodgates of heaven will open …

Shining Despair – Susan Buchanan / Australia

The Earth flexes its muscle, the applied concrete ‘urban skin’ breaks open and a microcosm of life is created in the cracks in the pavement.

Shining Despair – Carmen Lopez / Spain

Spinning reflections on the title of the competition.

Shining Despair – Sanna Svedestedt / Sweden

The Dropped Ice Cream brooches offer a surreal take on the iconic moment …

Shining Despair – Deimezi Xenia / Greece

Behind and in front of what is visible.