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 – Taibe Palacios / Chile

Take away the veil of darkness, let us light a fire and we will sit around.

Shining Despair – Sanna Svedestedt / Sweden

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

Shining Despair – Jeannette Knigge / Netherlands

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

Shining Despair – Esteban Erosky / Mexico-Spain

Our ability to transform things is so powerful …

Shining Despair – Jounghye Park / South Korea

The ‘Saves’ series is a collection created by layering and carving small pieces of silk fabric …

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 – Anna Talbot / Norway

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

Shining Despair – Lena Lindahl / Sweden

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

Shining Despair – Wiebke Pandikow / Finland

Biodegradable plastic bags have been reworked into a basket-like object …