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 – Selma Leal / Spain

« The desperation of corals shines before our eyes through their bleaching, »

Shining Despair – Aya Iwata / Japan

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

Shining Despair – Maria Konschake / Belgium

« Prägung » is part of the series « About Space and Identity » …

Shining Despair – Juan Riusech / Spain

« Blurred Lines of Despair » explores the tangible manifestation of emotional unraveling.

Shining Despair – Katherine Mc Namara / Ireland

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

Shining Despair – Spam Glam / UK

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

Shining Despair – Rikke Lunnemann / Denmark

‘It is clear to all of us that the degree of the current chaos in the world is caused by our own actions….‘

Shining Despair – Esteban Erosky / Mexico-Spain

Our ability to transform things is so powerful …

Shining Despair – Denis Music / Ukraine

The idea of the « Attention » brooch emerged during the challenging days of 2023.

Shining Despair – Pilar Viedma / Spain

As every year, at the beginning of autumn, the Mediterranean people know that one day the floodgates of heaven will open …