Artist Audrey Knabe Opening Night

Grief is a visceral thing, a current that wells up, the waves asking to break apart all walled defenses. In her solo exhibition titled ‘All My Tears in Your Bottle,’ Charlottesville artist Audrey Knabe captures this raw movement of grief through a collection of acrylic paintings on canvas. This work reveals the rawness of the artist’s own personal journey with invisible chronic health issues, alongside a broader ache for the collective pain she sees around her in the world. 

Humans are the only animals that experience three kinds of tears. Beyond reflex tears and basal tears, humans express emotional tears: tears for no other reason than to release and convey sadness, fear, anxiety, awe, or some deep feeling we cannot put into words. This body of work explores that third kind of tear, and the comfort found in knowing that each and every tear shed is seen and remembered by God. Psalm 56:8 reveals that “You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” In documenting the fluid movement of her sorrow through paint, Knabe is remembering those tears are treasured, and is inviting the viewer to consider the freedom that grieving can bring.