Barbara Deriemaeker

Tear Drops

Belgium, 2010

Necklace

Materials: Porcelain, Cotton Rope

Techniques: Ceramics: Porcelain Clay

Dimension in cm: 30 x 18 x 10

When I was a child, my parents where

looking every day the news on television

and I was asking my mother why these

women are crying and shouting hysterical.

My mother answered that these people are

living in the Middle East and they are

always fighting there. What an impact

these images had on me as a child and even

now 20 years later I still see women crying

and shouting hysterical. It is unbelievable

that probably my child is going to ask me:

Why are they crying?

This pain, suffering and tears of this

innocent people, men and women with

children in war in the Middle East is the

base for my work.  A mass of tear drops on

a thin red cotton rope that is cutting the

skin of your neck because of the weight of

the tears, referring to the pain, suffering

and heaviness of every tear drop.

Artist Statement:

What was your starting point or your

inspiration for doing this project?

Almost every day the media reminds us the

problems in the Middle East: political/

religious issues, war, pain, blood, sadness,

hysterical people, ....,TEARS,...

Do you have a personal (or other)

connection to the exhibition’s theme?

I don't have a personal connection with the

theme, but I believe that every human being

is in a certain way connected through the

media. Seeing people killed, children

searching their parents or a crying woman

holding her dead child, must have an

impact on every human being of flesh and

blood.

What were the main reasons for choosing

the materials, shapes or technique in your

work?

The materials I have worked with are

porcelain clay and red cotton rope.

Porcelain is a very fragile/delicate material

when it is not baked in the oven, ones in

the oven, it is hard and strong. I choose for

a thin cotton rope because cotton is strong

and the thin lines are cutting your skin

because of the weight of the tear drops. Red

is for me a very strong color referring to

blood, life/dead, love...

What kind of feeling you wish the viewers

will get from your work?

I believe that every body can experience

another feeling by wearing my necklace.

What is important for me is that my work is

starting a discussion, a conversation. For

example: when wearing the necklace, it is

hurting and heavy. You like that feeling?

If you could give your Jewelry to an

important figure in the Middle East who

will he/she be? and why?

I would like to give my jewelry to the man,

woman or rulers behind the curtain.