What you can find at The Place for Lost Feelings
Artist Clare James creates temporary, nature-based installations to help people process grief and difficult emotions. These 'altars' provide a physical space for individuals to acknowledge losses that are often overlooked by traditional funeral practices.
Why it matters
The project highlights the intersection of art, mental health, and community-based approaches to processing trauma and bereavement.
What you can find at The Place for Lost Feelings By Rhiannon Stevens
Link copied Share Share article The first time Clare James arranged funeral flowers was for her friend's 10-year-old son Harper, who was killed, along with his father, when a tree fell on their car in 2019.
Impelled by the urge to give the children in the room something to look at beyond their friend's coffin, she created a wild and twisting semi-circle of branches, flowers, moss, pebbles and fungi. Woven into the installation were Harper's toys, and guests were invited to light a candle and place it among the pebbles when they arrived.
"So, that was the first one. I just did that because I was worried about how the kids would get through such a funeral," Clare says.
Clare James is a painter, sculptor, gardener and florist living in Healesville, Victoria. ( Supplied: Julia Nance )
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