You…!!

Parul Bouvart's installation YOU… the last words (2020) reveals the limits of our language while trying to give a visual expression to the process of grieving. White roses, symbolic for mourning as well as celebration, are delicately arranged to spell out the words “I !!!! YOU” against a garden mesh. Upon closer inspection, one can observe that the roses have begun wilting and soon, nature and time shall take course, leaving behind a blank wall.

The stark white background emphasises the shadows cast by the roses, reminding us that mourning is a process that leaves ephemeral traces on the residual parts of our consciousness that we cannot grasp. The plain surface also draws attention to the wilting roses and the green of the stems, the two binaries of life and death in a plucked flower. What do you ask yourself when you see this?

What does it mean to grieve? What does it mean to love and to lose?

Perhaps there can be no answer. The words (un)-spelt out by the four upturned roses fill the blank space of conflicting emotions one feels when faced with loss. While language perhaps will never be enough to convey grief, this installation allows a visualisation of the process, mapping the artist's variegated emotions as the viewer gazes upon the wilting flowers.