It Started in East London: My First Memorial Commission
By charlenelam / September 14, 2021
My work as a Grief Curator started in East London, with my mother’s urn. A…
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Visit The Grief Gallery for an online exhibit from The Creative Edit x Grief Grit Grace that explores our universal and personal experiences with grief and loss through a creative lense. gallery.griefgritgrace.com
Featuring creative work commissioned in memoriam, in collaboration with UK and NYC designers and makers.
Presented by grief curator Charlene C Lam. Featuring work from Amanda Li Hope (UK), Jo Davies (UK), Poppy Chancellor (UK) and Yeesan Loh (US).
LIVE CONVERSATION, TUESDAY 21st SEPTEMBER
Join curator Charlene C Lam for a guided tour of The Grief Gallery and an engaging conversation with UK ceramicist Jo Davies.
We’ll be talking about channeling grief into creativity, collaborating and the commissioning process.
Tuesday, 21st September, 6pm UK time (1pm NYC time)
Register to attend: https://bit.ly/GRIEF-LDF21
Art and design have the ability to connect personal experience with universal experiences. Everyone will experience death and loss at some point in their lives. It is personal. It is universal. Let’s embrace art and design, and their ability to connect people (with themselves and others).
Charlene Lam, Grief Curator
When my mom died 8 years ago, I was working as an independent curator in London.
My pop-up exhibitions showcased the work of designers, makers and artists, under the names Creative Clerkenwell and The Creative Edit.
When it came time to pick out an urn for my mom’s ashes, I commissioned a custom porcelain urn from Jo Davies, an East London ceramicist whose work I loved.
That was the start of my work as a Grief Curator. Over the years, I’ve commissioned illustrations, paper art and photoshoots in memory of my mom and others’ loved ones. I’ve presented exhibitions in London and Brooklyn about grief and loss.
Channeling my grief into creating and commissioning work from designers and makers has been an incredibly rewarding and healing experience.
After an extended period of grief and loss on many levels, I invite LDF visitors to explore the universal themes of grief and loss through this creative lense. Out of darkness and pain, we can craft beauty and meaning.
Header illustration: Detail of “His Collection of Pens” by Yeesan Loh for the This is How We Remember series.
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