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 – Wiebke Pandikow / Finland

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

Shining Despair – Minami Hiranuma / Japan

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

Shining Despair – Jeannette Knigge / Netherlands

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

Shining Despair – Juan Harnie / Belgium

As a child, I would watch my mother patch up worn garments …

Shining Despair – Eiko Nakahara / Japan

In the current state of the world, people hate each other and there are countries full of hatred.

Shining Despair – Marta Alonso / Spain

Mayfly, an ephemeral flight and Glimpse the universe …

Shining Despair – Arisa Inoue / Japan

It’s not uncommon for darkness to cast a shadow over the human heart.

Shining Despair – Ute van der Plaats / Belgium

When the relentless madness of this world is clouding my heart, I take a walk in the woods …

Shining Despair – Eunhee Cho / South Korea

I have experienced two trials in my life.

Shining Despair – Sunyoung Cheong / USA

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