REFUGEES: DESERT AMMA’S - Sandy de Kock

This body of work explores the stark reality of the global displacement crisis, focusing on the 120 million individuals forced from their homes in the African Continent. I look closely at the women and children who make up nearly half of this vulnerable population.

Through a series of acrylics, inks and collage I bear witness to the “Desert Amma’s (mothers), serving as a monument to their journeys.

Using my sense of colour and mark making to represent the patchwork and physical layering process, I hope to create a visual narrative of fragmentation; of women desperately trying to piece together a sense of home, education and cultural identity for their children and community while themselves enduring endless hardship.

The core of this visual narrative is the profound tension between severe humanitarian peril and maternal resilience, honoring these sojourners in their perilous journeys.

I hope to challenge the viewer to look beyond statistics, and see the sacred, fierce, and enduring spirit of mothers holding humanity together in the desert night.

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