The Shields of Tears

* M1 = Marie / A = artwork / M2 = Mariana

• M2: What comes to your mind first when you say shield?
• M1: Safe-space barrier.
• A: Function. I protect, I take care.
• M2: In what way?
• M1: Two sides of the shield-object are important. The one protecting, firm and the other caring, soft. The artwork must be perceived and seen from both sides, otherwise it lacks its meaning.
• A: The solid one is the hostile one. I protect everyone inside against those outside. I'm trying to show safety with the inner one. Textiles as a material that touches the body, embraces it and insulates it.
• M2: But with your function you also create a barrier, a border.
• A: Hmm.
• M1: That's what this is about. What to pass on, where is the border. At the same time, you create space and architecture with borders. The environment around you plays a role in how you feel.
• A: I like the idea that I function as an object behind which you can hide. You will put me on as a second skin, you will use me as a divider. No one will see what is happening behind me.
• M1: That's crucial for me. Self-awareness through this shield-object. You only abstract it to the object into which you put your view, access. It is an artwork not burdened by other stories, only by the one which is yours. The object is created for any space, it does not have its exact installation layout. It adapts to people and the environment.
• M2: In a way, this installation seems very feminine to me - cotton and the softness, tightening the shield like a corset, there is also legible craftsmanship. I like seeing you, a female artist, in it.
• A: It sounds like without an artist, I'm just an empty object.
• M1: You are and you are not. Without what I put into you, you can have a completely different meaning. For some you can be immediately perceived as a functional object, for some as an image, a leaf, a flower, a piece of imaginary clothing, a corset,…
• M2: What is the most important to you in this installation?
• M1: To perceive the artwork as intended, not what it may seem like.
• A: I have two sides!