There are so many artistic pieces that convey the profound grief, melancholy, despair and emptiness many of us have suffered during difficult times on our lives. 

I have chosen five to share with you. They all mean a lot to me. They use different ways of expressing their distress. There’s no right or wrong here. I engage with each one through my own experience, which may be different on different days. They offer me a sense of relief, make me feel less alone.

May they bring you seeds of comfort.

Melancholy is a sculpture in bronze by Albert György (2012). He felt intense sadness and isolation after his wife died, and he created this poignant  figure as a way to cope. You can find his representation of grief and emptiness on the banks of Lake Geneva.

Cavatina [Click to listen] is the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s string quartet No 13 (Opus 130), composed in 1826.   

Beethoven composed this evocation of endless heartbreak following the ending of his tempestuous relationship with his nephew Karl. He declared that he had composed this cavatina “truly in the tears of melancholy” and that “never had his own music made such an impression on him”.

Back to Black: [Click to listen] Amy Winehouse released this song in 2007. It was  inspired when her partner Blake Fielder-Civil went back to an ex-girlfriend, leaving her to go back into drinking and depression.  

We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to

Black…..

From the journals of Sylvia Plath

I feel outcast on a cold star, unable to feel anything but an awful helpless numbness. I look down into the warm, earthy world. Into a nest of lovers’ beds, baby cribs, meal tables, all the solid commerce of life in this earth, and feel apart, enclosed in a wall of glass.

Painted Rocks: Jean Vérame. Tafraoute, Morocco.

In 1984, the Belgian artist Jean Vérame painted a dozen enormous blocks of rocks, with the help of the local fire brigade and 18 tonnes of blue, pink, red, and black paint. He did this in tribute to his late wife. You can find lots more images on this link.

I love this astonishing and controversial artwork.  It reminds me that it is possible, even in the midst of grief, to find moments of joy in the most surprising places.