Tears are an outward sign of human vulnerability, physical carriers of intense emotions. They cleanse and moisten our eyes, yet they do so much more.
For years, I have explored the many functions, emotions, and meanings of tears. This research has given rise to individual works, installations, and performances.
A meeting with a community in the Brazilian Amazon inspired me to see the tear also as a symbol of purification and transformation — and thus of renewed life force.
Sananga 1 – Into the Light evokes the experience of “moving from darkness into light” in an old greenhouse — White Art Walk, Genval, 2019. At sunrise, a ritual performance takes place. For indigenous peoples, Sananga is a powerful tool to sharpen vision for hunting, but also to strengthen inner sight. Here, Sananga represents the clarification of vision through purification.
The installation Sananga 2 – Into the Light was part of the project Beloved Bodies by Sander Vloeberghs — KADOC, 2019. On seven glass pedestals, a ‘via dolorosa’ unfolded — from tears and darkness into the light — with the eagle as a leitmotif.