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 – 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 – Gloria Tormo / Spain

What are our despairs, where do they come from …

Shining Despair – Aya Iwata / Japan

The theme « Shining Despair » merges two opposing concepts: brilliance and despair.

Shining Despair – Clara del Papa / Italy-Venezuela

My work explores the delicate balance between darkness and light.

Shining Despair – Myriam Theveniaud / France

Transformation and chaos are deeply interconnected concepts …

Shining Despair – Isabelle Busnel / France

Human race is doomed. We are destroying the planet at a pace never seen before.

Shining Despair – Taibe Palacios / Chile

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

Shining Despair – Marta Alonso / Spain

Mayfly, an ephemeral flight and Glimpse the universe …

Shining Despair – Marilyn Koch / USA

We Are A Colony is an uncanny …

Shining Despair – Wiebke Pandikow / Finland

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