DROPS By Elena Strohfeldt—A Meditation On Grief & Healing
Part of NGV Melbourne Design Week, DROPS by Elena Strohfeldt is a personal and poetic exploration of early pregnancy loss, transforming grief into gold-lined vessels of quiet resilience.
Words HANDE RENSHAW Photos BRI HORNE
Elena Strohfeldt in her studio, handbuilding one of the ceramic vessels from DROPS.
A close-up of a vessel from DROPS, where undulating ribbons of 22k gold trace the layered surface.
Elena Strohfeldt shaping a vessel in her studio.
“When I share my work, that is how I create a space for others. My hope is to make people feel seen and heard, to know they are not alone if they have been through something similar.”
A trio of vessels from DROPS, where marbled clay and 22k gold converge to honour fragility, resilience, and the quiet beauty of healing.
Elena Strohfeldt shaping one of her signature vessels for DROPS, where each fold and curve carries the weight of memory, care, and emotional restoration.
In her sunlit studio, Elena Strohfeldt shapes the early contours of a vessel — an intimate act where memory meets material.
A vessel from DROPS, handbuilt in marbled earthen clay and adorned with 22k gold.
Presented as part of NGV Melbourne Design Week, DROPS is a tender and profound solo exhibition by Naarm-based ceramicist Elena Strohfeldt, supported by Lander—Se.
A poetic meditation on grief, early pregnancy loss, and the slow path of emotional repair, the body of work offers a space for reflection, vulnerability, and tenderness.
Crafted from marbled, earthen-toned clay and adorned with delicate glimmers of 22k gold, the pieces in DROPS embody what is often hidden or unspoken — soft fractures, silent strength, and the endurance of spirit. More than material expression, Elena’s vessels echo the strata of both land and body: layered, weighted, imperfect, and deeply human.
The exhibition centres on the deeply personal, but speaks to a collective experience. ‘The making process for my ceramics is more than just an artistic practice, it is a form of healing for me. So, when I am handbuilding my pieces, the focus is very much on me, my emotions and my healing. It is a very intimate experience; I give as much as I get from making ceramics. When I share my work, that is how I create a space for others. My hope is to make people feel seen and heard, to know they are not alone if they have been through something similar,’ Elena shares.
At the heart of DROPS is a single, searing experience: a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that led to emergency surgery and months of physical recovery. For Elena, returning to clay marked the beginning of her emotional healing.
‘Making the first piece was probably the most transformative and grounding moment for me because I hadn’t been able to make any ceramics for two months beforehand... So, when I was able to pick up clay for the first time it was then that I could truly start my healing journey.’
Through vulnerability, Elena opens a powerful dialogue around early pregnancy loss — a topic so many experience, yet so few discuss.
‘I lost my baby at 5 weeks and 6 days. I didn’t get to have an ultrasound, hear a heartbeat or know their gender. My baby was the size of a poppy seed, so small but it still felt like a significant loss... I am allowed to grieve, and I am a mother of an angel baby.’
Each vessel in DROPS carries this tenderness — infused with gold, not to mask, but to honour the rupture. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of kintsugi, Elena reinterprets the technique with feminist intent, reframing damage as resilience, and fracture as transformation.
‘What gravitated me towards the Japanese tradition of kintsugi is that by using it you can make the cracks beautiful... The loss of a baby can make women feel broken, like they aren’t able to do what they were born to do... But I believe, if early pregnancy loss is spoken about more, together we can heal.’
The materiality of DROPS is rich with metaphor — the layered marbling reflecting the geological and emotional terrain of a woman’s life, while the gold that pools in each crevice stands as a glistening tribute to what is fragile yet enduring.
‘Each trauma I have experienced has changed my trajectory as a person... Sometimes I grieve the me I would have been without the heaviness of the pain I carry... but there is also a beauty to that. So, I added the gold in my pieces to highlight that.’
Elena’s work offers something rare in today’s fast world: a quiet invitation to slow down, feel deeply, and honour the invisible stories we carry. In DROPS, we witness the profound grace of grief — not as something to overcome, but something to hold and honour.
DROPS by Elena Strohfeldt
17th + 18th May, 11am - 4pm (free entry)
Lander—Se: 585 Dunns Creek Rd, Red Hill
