The woman with 1000 hearts
Work in progress...
This community-based project is meant to be a reassessment of the way that our current society processes death and mourning, as well as a tribute to my grandmother who sadly died alone in a nursing home in the strict sanitary conditions and complete isolation consequently imposed to all.
"In 2020, my grandmother passed away during the pandemic, the eve before her 100 birthday, all alone in her nursing home, and isolated from her family that she loved so very much.
To lose a love one, is devastating. To lose a love one without the possibility of mourning with those closest to you, is shattering. Well aware that I wasn’t alone to face such an ordeal, I decided to create a new unifying and communal work of art.
I still have a clear memory of my grandmother crocheting every time that I went to visit her. While I do not know how to crochet myself, I do know glass… Why not combine them both…
This prompted me to write a post on Facebook about the fact that I was looking for volunteers with nimble crocheting hands. Well, to my surprise, in one single day I received 42 replies. I actually had to delete my post, because my small project suddenly became huge in one single day.
After more than 5 months of work, hundreds of exchanges between the volunteering crocheters and me, more than 40 boxes sent or delivered all over of the province of Quebec, the creation of 60 blown glass pieces, the use of more than 5kg of linen and mixed cotton and linen yarn and 8 hours assembly time, I presented "The Woman with 1000 hearts" for the first time at the Biennale Internationale du Lin de Portneuf in 2021.
I am therefore delighted to announce that 20 new hearts that were created by Andorrans will now join the first 60 and that "The woman with 1000 hearts" will be exhibited at the Centre d’Art d’Escaldes-Engordany in Andorra from October 14 through November 17, 2022.
The art work is composed of a rocking chair surrounded by more than 80 suspended blown glass pieces in the form of human hearts, all of them are adorned with crocheted works. The crocheting was realized with the help of the many volunteers that answered my call, thus giving the installation a complete sense of community. On the rocking chair, sits a single red glass heart, adorned with many recuperated crocheted works created by my grandmother. On one of the pieces is embroidered: T'estimem (we love you).
This was made possible thanks to the support of the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the gifted hands of glass artist Jean-Simon Trottier and for the precious help of the volunteering crocheters: Aline Dusablon, Cathy Baran, Célestine Julien, Chèrelle Brasseur, Chantal Urbain, Christiane Séguin, Christine Orain, Danielle Dupuis, Dayana Guerrier, Delphine Véronneau, Dominique Bellemare, Elisabeth Desbiens, Francine Naud, Gayane Avetisyan, Ginette Hallé, Hélène Rioux, Isabelle Caron-Audet, Isabelle Laroche, Jacinthe Roy, Jessica Milbauer, Johanne Lafleur, Johanne Marquis, Jorge Ramos Rodriguez, Judith Dubord, Kéryan Boucher, Louise Côté, Lyndell Robinson, Marie Germain, Marie-Andrée Drolet, Marie-Carole Raymond, Martine Raza, Mélissa Naud, Michèle Bellemare, Mireille Perreault, Murielle Audet, Myriam Villeneuve, Nicole Bellemare, Pascale Muntz, Pierrette Dubé , Renata Stucky, Sarabeth Triviño and Sophie Bélanger, Lourdes Fernández, Dolors Argelich, Paquita Macià, Manu García, Rosa Mª Roig, Carmen Molero, Encarna Padilla, Montserrat Moles, Araceli García, Pili Romero, Victòria Darás, Lourdes Pereira, Mari Barrera, Conxi Cano, Nela Nieto, Mercè Pérez, Dolors Martell, Carlos Fernández.