Mourning cloth:

When I was asked if I had any ideas for creating a mourning cloth, I immediately felt that this was a special and meaningful assignment.

At a young age, I was confronted with illness and saying goodbye to loved ones. Those experiences shaped me and made me realize how precious health is. The realization that life is fragile and that “later” sometimes comes sooner than you think.

This mourning cloth was therefore created with care, love, and passion. As a tribute to life, and as a gentle covering for the final farewell.

DESIGN:

After intense preparation, the actual creation of the mourning garment has been completed.

Life is a journey, often a beautiful journey, consisting of different phases that shape us into who we are. Each phase has its own beauty. The design of the mourning cloth the phases of life, from birth to death: “the circle of life”. The circle is therefore incorporated into the design.  Other key words included in the overall design are: loved one, love, faith and gender neutral, heart, the white light we would see, ascending to heaven.

The mourning cloth is made from a combination of mostly natural fabrics appropriate to the stage of life. The structures and colors are adapted to the dynamics of life in the phase we are in. It starts with childhood, a time of pure joy, innocence and simplicity. This transitions into the teenage years, where we grow up through trial and error and develop our first dreams. In young adulthood, life becomes busier and for some, life is already determined by setbacks. In the middle age, we enter calmer waters and know what we do not want. Retirement often brings more color to life. We have left our working lives behind and can enjoy our freedom. As we get older, our physical and mental health often starts to fail us. It becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with the younger generations; we become slower and sometimes more confused.

I have added fastenings to the mourning cloth, just like on shirts, to connect the phases of life, with the thought that “the last shirt has no pockets”.

The upright part on the mourning cloth represents the heart of the deceased, symbolizing the departure of the soul from the body.