An iconic work from Manon's 1999 exhibition 'Wash and stay for a while'.
A pearl chain encased in a bar of soap: the more you wash your hands, the closer you are to wearing the pearls.
Text from 'Wash and stay for a while (1999)
[Manon] works from ordinary everyday objects, such as a ring you might wear, the soap you wash you hands with, a spoon you eat from, or the tablecloth you put dishes on. They are neutral, everyday objects, which we surround ourselves with, and often overlook.
Manon describes the concept of her work with the following statement: ’I consider unspectacular things very meaningful. Objects represent a certain emotional value, which their neutral appearance often does not show. Through my way of working I do not intend to change these objects, I do not really want to design, but I want to express the visible aspects of this emotional value which each object contains within itself.”
In her work she brings the aspect of the emotional and personal memories and feeling, into these objects, by tracing the marks of their usage. She re-enforces our sense of sound, smell, taste and touch through her works, so that each object brings a new life into existence and changes our way of seeing ordinary things in our lives.
