Heartache brought together work by close friends Claudia Brand and Babette Robertson. The artists ceramic and painting work encapsulated a longing, preservation and a holding in stasis of imagery and memory.

Brand’s longing is for time, people and memories; Robertson’s is for lost elements of the natural environment. Having both come back to painting after focusing on digital and installation practices, the artists recently discovered a newfound reverence for the medium.

Since 2018 Babette has collected GPS points and accompanying porcelain pressings of fallen trees in her ongoing project every fallen tree. She has begun painting each tree in the act of heartache and conservation. This project will be completed when 7,000 trees are recorded and painted in homage to Joseph Beuys work 7,000 Eichen (7,000 Oaks). She is currently at 4,328 recordings.

There is a longing for the things these artists are recreating, recording and highlighting. Yet, the memories are gone, the trees have fallen, the time has passed, and the artists are no longer in the places they recorded these things.