Johanne Allard

Johanne Allard | Black Iris I, 2018

"The Sieves' ability to hold and remove in one movement makes them primal symbols of separation and filtering. The symbol embodies the same anguish: either to be rejected with the thousands and not included among the best, or to be rejected along with the thousands and not retained. Much of what one values in life may be sifted away, yet there is still some hope for which one must keep striving. A person must endure hardship and look for the nectar of hope amidst the changes life brings and adjust to the changes around them. Suffering is a form of purification."

This artwork is featured as the cover of the book written by the art historian Barbara Baert, About Sieves and Sieving: Motif, Symbol, Technique, Paradigm, published by De Gruyter in 2019.