Edmund deWaal, Lettres à Camondo, I,2021. Porcelain, gold, oak, liquid china clay, steel, and lead ©Edmund de Waal. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Alzbeta Jaresova
The Lettres à Camondo exhibition shows many objects by Edmund de Waal which act as memorials for the individual family members of the Camondo family. All objects tell a part of the story of the family. Letters and slates made from porcelain also appear throughout the house. In the piece Lettres à Camondo, I picks up the theme of letters, written in porcelain and installed in a paired-back letter holder, made from French oak, gold, steel, and lead.
Using lead and gold, Edmund de Waal is reinterpreting kintsugi, the technique to repair broken porcelain in China and Japan with lacquer and gold. In Edmund de Waal’s words, this is “a way of marking loss”.