The Black Tear originated in 2015, when Flore Zoé could no longer separate the events unfolding in the world from the turmoil in her own life. Images of people fleeing Syria and arriving in Greece, forced to leave behind their homes, country and sense of security, confronted her with the fragile nature of safety and privilege.

At the same time, she was experiencing a profound personal crisis within an otherwise safe and prosperous environment. The contrast became a wake-up call. It raised uncomfortable questions about suffering, about who has choices and who does not, and about how easily we overlook the privilege of growing up in safety.

The sea became the connecting element within the work, symbolising grief, loss and death: we cry the sea black. Yet the work also acknowledges that suffering cannot simply be compared or measured.

The Black Tear marked the beginning of a new phase in Flore Zoé’s artistic practice. A photographic image alone no longer felt sufficient. The work needed to become an object with a physical presence in space. Conceived as a freestanding mixed-media work constructed from photography, it initiated an ongoing exploration of how photographic imagery can move beyond the flat surface and assume a more spatial and tangible form.