the hankie project

This project was borne out of the recent sudden death of my father, a handkerchief, some emotive words written by a sibling on his death and the traumatic aftermath of a death processed according to particular societal and cultural mores. Interested artists and Individuals are invited to create an artwork on a handkerchief (any handkerchief not necessarily a man's) based around death/grief/bereavement and return it to me by mid July 2011 for inclusion in a show in Melbourne in August, 2011

Friday, February 19, 2010

A Patch of Sky - Hankerchief artwork by Monica Oppen

My mother died in October. She had been sick since January. That day after the night she died my body felt so heavy and so tired. But I noticed the sky. It was as blue as ever, like it always is in Spring. I remember thinking; how could it be so blue when I was feelig so unhappy? It was the most powerful statement for the triumph of life over death. My life. And her life in me because I was her daughter.

2 comments:

swinkieFebruary 21, 2010 at 2:57 PM
A beautiful piece. Thank you.
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Objects of the deadFebruary 22, 2010 at 5:54 PM
what was so lovely for me about this piece was that when I opened the box for the first time a puff of blue came out! The hankie has been covered in pastel so when you touch it you take part of that blue with you on your fingertips...your own little patch of sky.
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