A deeply personal original created from mussel shells gathered during lunch with Victoria's three children — a meditation on motherhood, vulnerability and the sacredness of the human heart.
Each open shell began to resemble a heart. Within each sits a smaller painted shell — a heart held within a heart. At the centre, one broken shell quietly carries the message that the heart is sacred and must be held gently, protected and honoured.
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Max's Muscles began with a family lunch. Victoria's middle son, Max, loves mussels and orders them whenever they appear on a menu. After the meal, she asked if she could take the empty shells home — and from that small moment this artwork was born.
The title is a gentle play on words: a nod both to the mussel shells from which the work is made and to Max himself — sporty, strong and, in his mother's eyes, beautifully powerful.
Through making the piece, meaning revealed itself slowly. What began as the remnants of a shared meal became a reflection on sensitivity, difference, acceptance, compassion and unconditional love.
Set against a dramatic black ground, each mussel shell opens like a small heart. Gold edging catches the light and gives the work a quiet sense of reverence, while the painted inner shells introduce flashes of red, white and rose — intimate details that feel protective and alive.
The box framing and glass deepen its presence, turning the piece into something almost devotional: sculptural, reflective and contemplative.
One shell pair contains a white shell held beside a red shell; another presents a single red shell like a quiet centre point. These tiny gestures intensify the emotional language of the work and echo the central message behind it: your heart is sacred.
It is a piece about holding the heart with tenderness — not only the hearts of those we love, but our own.
At 65 × 65 cm and 10 cm deep, Max's Muscles has a stronger physical presence than a flat work. The black ground and gold-edged shells give it a sophisticated, contemporary feel, making it especially striking in collected interiors, restaurants, boutique settings or intimate domestic spaces.
