Evelien De Winter

People have a need for rituals.

Saying goodbye to a beloved deceased person now happens less in a church, traditional cemeteries are places to keep death at a safe distance and are located further and further from the village center. 
More and more people are choosing

to take the ashes of their loved ones home with them.

The elegant auditoriums of crematoria,

often grand in architecture and with attention to light and serenity,

offer a space to say goodbye together in a personal ritual,

independent of religious beliefs.

Afterwards, the ashes sometimes find a place

in a burial forest or in the sea,

where the deceased becomes one with nature.

In this way, loss becomes inherently linked

to every experience of nature.

When things are difficult,

the strong wind at sea can blow away your anger,

a beautiful glow behind a cloud can soothe the mood

and give you the feeling of being together again

with someone who is physically no longer there.

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We need a new framework for living with death. 

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The ceramic urns and remembrance cases that I make fit into this need. 
Creating a point of remembrance at home,

a point of recognition gives your past together

a place close by.

In the warm security of your home,

contemplating the story that you wrote together gives comfort. 

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The artworks are not immediately recognizable as mourning objects,

they are light and do not impose themselves.  

Thus they offer you the possibility to share

the memory you carry with others or not, according to your needs. 

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Visually they honor life by making the life force visible. 
In time, nature overgrows every human construction. 
The invisible is made visible by depicting this energy. 
Grief that comes at us like tidal waves

stands still in that one moment. 

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Just as no two people are the same,

each urn differs from the other. 
Emerging from my interpretation of the world,

I create a story in which you can recognize yourself or the other.

Just as the sounds of a song resonate

and fragments of text can evoke something deep inside,

I tell a story in which you can find points of recognition.

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Each piece is made by hand from fragile but strong porcelain. 
The stubborn nature of the material commands respect from the maker. 
Averse to all speed,

it requires gentle constraint,

sustained attention and expertise to work in this material.

Throughout time, it has always offered many artists

the opportunity to express the power and fragility of life.

In the processing phase, it sculpturally traces every movement.

Hard and fresh white when fired,

it eternalizes the act of creation.  

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Honoring life, 
making the life force visible,
harboring emotions, 
a place to return to and 
in the warm security of your home,

 reflect on yourself and the other. 

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