Shining DESPAIR
Selma Leal
Spain

Brooch “Lady Musgrave”, 2017
Silver, stainless seel
Lost wax

Brooch “Lady Musgrave”, 2010-25
Silver, gold, enamel, stainless seel
100x80x30mm
Lost wax, enameled

« The desperation of corals shines before our eyes through their bleaching, » making coral bleaching a vivid representation of Shining Despair. This phenomenon, where corals expel the symbiotic algae living within their tissues, reveals a skeletal white form that is starkly beautiful yet tragically indicative of their distress. The term « Shining Despair » perfectly captures this contradiction—the radiant, almost ghostly glow of the bleached coral is, in reality, a desperate cry for help, a final, brilliant display before death.

More « Shining DESPAIR »

Shining Despair – Minami Hiranuma / Japan

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

Shining Despair – Carmen Lopez / Spain

Spinning reflections on the title of the competition.

Shining Despair – Arisa Inoue / Japan

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

Shining Despair – Jeannette Knigge / Netherlands

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

Shining Despair – Isabelle Busnel / France

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

Shining Despair – Jina Seo / USA-South Korea

My work reveals inner conflict and suffering by contrasting societal expectations with the personal turmoil I often experience.

Shining Despair – Taibe Palacios / Chile

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

Shining Despair – Denis Music / Ukraine

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

Shining Despair – Maria Konschake / Belgium

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

Shining Despair – Donald Friedlich / USA

For most of us despair comes and goes.