Beauty in Brokenness

Words and Photography by Annie Kruyer

Kintsukuroi, ‘to repair with gold,’ is the Japanese art of repairing shattered pottery and ceramic vessels with gold and silver, understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. I had loved this practice long before it would resonate fully in my own life. But instead
of gold, I would use the gift of light, both physically and spiritually, to mend and bring beauty to all my broken places.

I am an artist. An artist that takes photos. Although formerly trained in Fine Art and Illustration, photography is my first love as my medium of expression, for it so eloquently speaks the language of my soul and frames the complex working of intuitive feelings into something I can reflect on. The word photography comes from the Greek word phos meaning light and graphos meaning writing, which loosely translates to ‘writing with light.’ How beautiful. Writing with light.

Looking back to the months before life as I knew it would change forever, I now believe that on some subconscious, perhaps spiritual, level, we know or are prepared for a death or a parting of a loved one if we knew to pay attention to the signs.

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