Elisabeth 2025, Acrylic on canvas, 104 x164 cm framed.

Elisabeth, created in honour of my adoptive mother, navigates the intertwined pressures of biology, autonomy, and belonging. The painting reflects on inheritance, identity, and fertility, offering a meditation on the many dimensions of reproductive decision-making and the ways we carry what is passed down to us in more ways than simply through DNA.

These themes extend into the material construction of the work itself. Its stitched surface mirrors the making of my other painting, Mothers II, from the same series, Conceal or Reveal? In both works, stitching becomes a quiet but deliberate gesture, one that holds fragments together while leaving the seams visible, presenting an honest and vulnerable exterior.

In Elisabeth, the letter “e” appears prominently, not merely as a trace but as a physical beacon for my mother, Elisabeth, and, by extension, for ALL mothers.

Incorporating fragments from her diaries, the work also reflects on the fragility of language and memory in an increasingly digital world. As handwritten letters, diaries, and notes disappear, I ask what is lost alongside them? Are our stories truly preserved when they exist only as data?