Tears Fall (Fragile garden series) by Mona Ryder, 2016

A mixed media work set on a black background within an oval wooden frame lacquered to a high sheen by the artist Mona Ryder. Tears Fall is part of a larger body of work known as the Fragile garden series dated 2016. The work is 65 centimetres tall by 50 centimetres wide. Four other works complete this series and are shown alongside Tears Fall. The top two works are displayed in the top left and top right-hand corners, there is a work displayed in the centre and the remaining two are displayed towards the bottom, one in the far left-hand corner and another in the bottom right-hand corner. Tears Fall is situated in the far right-hand corner and is the work described.

In the top half of the work sits a single open eye, cast in silver with a simple outline for the iris and silver ball for the pupil. From the base of the eyelid falls silver strands of thread, plunging from a height down into a whirlpool below where aquamarine circles of water provide a ripple effect, moving out. The eye sits amongst the outstretched branches of two tall flowering trees one on the left, one on the right, leafless but abundantly covered in pink and orange blooms.

At the base of the embroidery is a yellow felt pansy where artificial green vines and leaves entwined wreath like and interwoven with satin red ribbon move up following the oval shaped perimeter to encompass the scene. Raised from the surface of the work the vines serve to act as a window or portal to the dream-like image depicted on the mysterious black satin landscape enclosed within.

The artist describes her visual language as follows, “…an important part about artwork is that it does talk to people, that it communicates, which is what every artist is trying to do. Not necessarily telling everyone your secrets but so someone else takes something from it, so it has a life of its own.”