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 – 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 – Uri Samet / Israel

From circumstances defined mostly by despair, anguish and darkness – small fragments of light emit.

Shining Despair – Katherine Mc Namara / Ireland

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

Shining Despair – Misha McLean / Scotland

‘Repeat Prescription: 14mg’ embodies the quiet despair felt by those who rely on medication in order to sustain a healthy life.

Shining Despair – Sunyoung Cheong / USA

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

Shining Despair – Esteban Erosky / Mexico-Spain

Our ability to transform things is so powerful …

Shining Despair – Deimezi Xenia / Greece

Behind and in front of what is visible.

Shining Despair – Spam Glam / UK

Extreme changes in my life have caused me so much anguish …

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…