Shining DESPAIR
Spam Glam
UK

Brooch “Everything’s changing”, 2025
Recycled card, reclaimed scrap fabrics & netting, reclaimed wadding, steel wire, acrylic paint, embroidery threads, cotton threads, recycled cosmetic glitters & gems, glue. 160x120x8mm.
Freehand machine embroidery, painting, hand sewing.

Extreme changes in my life have caused me so much anguish that I can no longer hold onto the despair that has weighed me down; anchoring me to memories of the past. Instead I’m focusing hopefully on the future, resiliently embracing my new alternatives and always looking for the cloud’s silver lining.
After loss and pain you can find hope, as long as you choose to look for it.

More « Shining DESPAIR »

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 – Deimezi Xenia / Greece

Behind and in front of what is visible.

Shining Despair – Laurel Fulton / USA

We experience the world in the only way we can, through and with our bodies.

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 – Katherine Hubble / Australia

Cultured pearls are created by implanting an irritant into an oyster.

Shining Despair – Carmen Lopez / Spain

Spinning reflections on the title of the competition.

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…

Shining Despair – Sanna Svedestedt / Sweden

The Dropped Ice Cream brooches offer a surreal take on the iconic moment …

Shining Despair – Esteban Erosky / Mexico-Spain

Our ability to transform things is so powerful …

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 …