This is the first article of a new series where I regularly write about a work of art from my own collection. It will give you an insight in what and how I collect and hopefully inspire you to do so as well.
I will always add something a bit larger: in this article for example, I dig into the concept of ‘no title’ in artworks.
_love at first sight
But first things first: the art piece.
Yasmina Assbane shared this on her Instagram stories and I was sold! It struck me with childhood nostalgia: my grandmother’s kitchen and the ballpoint pens at the bank. And as often, when I love a piece, there’s more to it than comes up immediately. There’s a thrill, but the full realisation of why exactly comes later. Sometimes, apparently, even only when I write about it…
_no title
This art piece has no title…
Choosing the no-title-policy as an artist, is letting the viewer experience the art without guidelines, leaving them free in their observation and interpretation… I have some thoughts about this tactic.
Let me tell you how I experience art, generally speaking, let’s say in a museum or gallery:
- I look at a piece: it touches me or not. If not, I often stop there, unless it’s for example in a major museum and I feel like it’s part of my education to know the artist. If it does touch me, I want to know more.
- I look at the label for:
a. The artist’s name, proud of course if I knew who it was without looking at the label. Which is ridiculous, I know there will always be way more artists I don’t know than the ones I do know AND it’s not really a measure of anything. (Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise or make you feel bad for not knowing).
b. The date: if I don’t know the artist, the date helps to evaluate the progressiveness of the work
c. The title: what did they mean? Did I see it that way? Does it add an extra layer of appreciation or understanding of the piece?
So when there is no title: I am often confused or bothered to not be able to challenge my feelings and thoughts with the intention of the artist. It feels a bit lazy on their part, as if they didn’t think their piece through or didn’t dare to take a stance.
But, it could as well be laziness on my behalve… If I want to know more, I need to dig in. Get to know more of the artist’s background and oeuvre, other works or inspirations, the period in which they were working, etc. It takes some effort. It’s a bit more complicated.
_overflow
I chose effort and did dig into this piece I acquired (yes, afterwards in this case).
I had the chance to meet Yasmina in her home. We got to know each other over a cup of coffee and she showed me around in her atelier talking about her passion for found objects and the potential stories they tell.
Researching further for this article, I discovered that this piece is part of a series called OVERFLOW.
Interesting!
THE definition that provided a CLICK in my brain:
To overflow is not to fail at containment,
but to reveal how narrow the container always was.
What I can put into words with that information when I look at the artwork: this overflowing skimmer seems to be holding strings of tears and spilling them out at the same time. Like a woman stuck in a (traditional) role in the privacy of her kitchen, overflowing with emotion, frustrations, anger… trying to hold it all in but unable to contain it all. It’s evidence of continued pressure and high expectations that are no longer sustainable. It’s about wanting to resist but having to let go.
A very aesthetic display of TOO MUCH. Elegant and strong: feminine and feminist.
So in this case, I read the absence of a title as refusal, a withholding of explanation in a world that expects women’s emotional states to be named, measured, and preferable made manageable.
_why it’s in my collection
I had been following Yasmina Assbane’s work for a while, very much intrigued by her combination of stockings and glassware. As seen here at Art Brussels in 2024 and La Centrale for Contemporary in 2025:
Re-appropriation is what spoke to me from the beginning. Innocent looking kitchen recipients become saucy (pun intended) sculptures. There’s a constant contradiction between comfortable known objects and uncomfortable bodily connotations. Yasmina’s work is filled with witty, discreet, silently revolutionary, feminist acts.
The nostalgia of old materials and memories is also a bit of an underlying theme in my collection as you will see over time. And I pay close attention to buying at least from as many female artists as from male ones.
_the artist
Yasmina was born in Brussels to a Dutch mother and a Moroccan father. She graduated from the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts where she teaches part-time today.
She hunts for specific everyday objects that are reputed to be feminine like stockings and glassware and arranges them like a window dresser would: decoratively. But beware! The re-appropriation and transformation into carefully balanced compositions, invite a shift in perception and offer a new reading between sweetness and cruelty. The pleasant looking arrangements seem to belong in an intimate domestic sphere, but move between subject and object, truly questioning the limits given to women. There’s a shift in your gaze that can suddenly feel inappropriate…
For more:
https://yasminaassbane.be/
www.instagram.com/yasminaassbane
This article was 95% humanly written. I asked AI some thoughts about the concept of overflow.
PS one: Wouldn’t you agree that hanging art in your kitchen elevates the whole room? My tip: it works for any area in your home! Try it: happiness guaranteed.
PS two: I don’t explore this in this article, but I do wonder why this “no title” concept isn’t used in literature for example? A book without a title could be interesting, no? I don’t always find the title the best match with the content and this would allow for a different start of page one…
PS three: A rather long, personal note on why this ‘TOO MUCH’ resonates so much with me.
I had a rough start of the year caused by feeling constantly switched ON, which resulted in insomnia, which drove me sad, impatient, stressed and honestly: a bit insane. It has taken me some time to realise what the main reason of it was. Medical and other advice pointed out this was normal, due to stress and age and that meditation would help. Which feels like being spotted by a tiger in the jungle and everyone telling you to think happy thoughts.
Maddening.
Until I found out that the nervous system being stuck in survival mode (fight-or-flight) is directly linked to perimenopause. Fluctuating and declining oestrogen and progesterone levels during this transition reduce the brain’s ability to stay calm, leading to a deregulated autonomic nervous system that remains in a constant state of over-alertness!
Thank you: I’m not mad, just peri-menopausal.
To get out of this cycle: breathing exercises, movement and creative expression (and some therapy wouldn’t hurt).
After reaching a point in life where I’ve been trying to hold everything together for too long, I do realise it will take time before I find balance. But knowing, at least, gives me confidence to move on in the right direction.
I don’t want any pity, I write this out of frustration: I want us, as a society, to talk about this so we can understand ourselves and each other better. And if art can help spread the word, why not?!