Kintsugi, painting of the goddess of restorative water
Thought : 
You felt like your broken heart could never be rebuilt. But just as the master ceramist restores the cracked vase by filling its cracks with gold, so too will your heart experience renewal. Life is made of valleys and mountains that you will be able to cross.
The painting Kintsugi takes its name from a Japanese technique that can be translated as "golden joinery." This method is used to repair ceramics with a lacquer sprinkled with gold powder, giving them a second life. More than just a means of repair, kintsugi celebrates cracks, making them precious and visible—much like the wounds of the heart, which experience and resilience transform into strength. This idea is embodied in the painting through a female figure who seems to breathe a benevolent energy into a suspended heart, mending it with golden seams.
The scene unfolds within a rectangular frame with thick borders, whose corners are cut inward by an arc, forming a kind of mirror opening onto a magical world. This black frame is adorned with gold lines and floral or solar motifs, enhancing the mystical aspect of the composition and giving the impression of a portal to another dimension—one of introspection and transformation.
The background features a misty, cloud-filled landscape. In the upper part, the sky is darkened by clouds in shades of pink and purple, while the lower part is enveloped in a bluish mist dotted with floating violet and pink bubbles. This vaporous atmosphere creates a dreamlike impression, as if the scene exists between two worlds. Branches of orange-blossomed trees emerge from the top of the frame, while at the bottom, numerous orange and white flowers appear at different stages of blooming, symbolizing the cycle of life and rebirth.
The focal point of this work is the central female figure, an entity that appears both as a goddess and a spirit of water. She floats in the air, without legs, her body extending into a water-drop shape that curves into a semicircle. Her arms are folded and brought close to her chest, framing a red heart she holds with almost ritualistic focus. Her wide sleeves, also shaped like large water droplets, close around her hands, further emphasizing her connection to this fluid element.
Her long, flowing red hair cascades over three-quarters of her body, appearing to stream down like a river. Her face, flushed from effort, conveys a solemnity mixed with a protective tenderness. Her large blue eyes gaze intently at the heart, her full attention devoted to her task. A solar symbol is tattooed on her forehead, while beneath each eye, a small black heart accentuates the expression of devotion and compassion radiating from her figure.
Her dark blue garment is adorned with small golden suns and stylized cloud motifs inspired by tachiwaki, a Japanese pattern representing "rising steam." This symbol of water in its most ethereal form evokes the continuous flow of life and the way challenges, like steam, rise gently before dissipating. The lower part of her attire, separated by a violet belt with golden dots, forms a patchwork of motifs resembling a mountainous landscape in shades of blue and green. Some of these patterns depict foliage, while others feature geometric shapes, waves, or stylized clouds, further reinforcing the idea of a world where natural elements harmoniously intertwine.
Her entire focus is on the suspended red heart between her hands, haloed in white and pale blue light. Golden veins run across its surface, recalling the kintsugi technique. The heart’s fiery red embodies life and passion, while the gold of the seams symbolizes healing and the acceptance of one’s wounds as a precious part of oneself. This powerful symbol suggests that this woman is not merely repairing a broken heart but honoring its fractures.
Various elements suggest that this figure is intrinsically linked to water—an element that flows everywhere and, with time, overcomes all obstacles. Water, both gentle and relentless, represents change, adaptation, and renewal—just like this feminine presence devoted to the heart’s reconstruction. She embodies a force that is at once delicate and unstoppable, that of healing and transformation.
My paintings are sent from Mexico with tracking number. The delivery time may take time depending on your geolocation (between 4 and 6 weeks). Please take this information into account before ordering. Your tracking number will be provided to you when your package has left.
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By Emmanuelle Guyon.
Tags : woman, goddess, sky, water, kintsugi, symbol, resilience, Japanese, Japan, heart, repair, rebirth, steam, tachiwaki, aura, healing, transformation
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