Finding the right title

A sculpture is not complete without an appropriate title that I choose with great care. My work represents a feeling, emotion or a statement and, for me, the title adds something to that meaning. When I work on a sculpture, I always go al the way in my attempt to accomplish the right form, expression and finish. I  go through the same quest in finding the right title.
Words regularly inspire me and not rarely they lead me to a sculpture. Behind the words is a world of feeling and meaning that evoke an image in me and can trigger me to develop a next artwork.

Language has always been important to me and the ambiguity of words and their meaning a source of inspiration.
Titles should reveal something of the meaning of the work and preferably a multiple meaning, but not give everything away.
Title and sculpture should reinforce each other and be more than the sum of their parts.

In my search, I often focus on song lyrics and poems but sometimes they also emerge spontaneously. It never works the same way, but requires a different approach each time.

For this sculpture, I initially used the working title ‘Everlasting’ because for me the sculpture represents perpetual pain and guilt. For days I searched for a better title because I didn’t like the word ‘Everlasting’ itself enough and it reminded me too much of a brand for boxing gloves. For some reason, words or concepts from Christianity often appeal to me. Without doubt it will have to do with my Western origin and Christian upbringing. These concepts have a connotation that I can use to give meaning to my artwork. I don’t very often use these concepts one-to-one, but adapt them in such a way that they better fit the underlying meaning of the sculpture.
We all know Mater Dolorosa, Woman of Sorrows, Mary in tremendous pain because of the loss of her son Jesus. My sculpture has thorns of roses on the inside of her body and was born out of a deep felt sense of guilt and loss. The similarity between Mater Dolorosa and this sculpture is the deeply felt pain. The difference: the Christian version and the secular one. Therefore, I decided to skip the word ‘Mater’ and give this sculpture the title ‘Dolorosa’, staying away from the exact original meaning. Dolorosa also includes also the word ‘rosa’ which for me is a nice reference to the flower that shines with its beauty but at the same time is so difficult to grasp because of its sharp thorns.