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 – Donald Friedlich / USA

For most of us despair comes and goes.

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 – Taibe Palacios / Chile

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

Shining Despair – Katherine Hubble / Australia

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

Shining Despair – Henrike Altes – Germany

Out of the feeling of longing for warmth and the close relationship to a beloved person …

Shining Despair – Lena Lindahl / Sweden

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

Shining Despair – Katherine Mc Namara / Ireland

I have been saving the plastic packaging of my cigarette filters for several years.

Shining Despair – Wiebke Pandikow / Finland

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

Shining Despair – Esteban Erosky / Mexico-Spain

Our ability to transform things is so powerful …

Shining Despair – Youjin Um / South Korea

My No. 1 treasure is my happy childhood memory.