Joy and Sadness

50 x 60cm, acrylic on canvas.

I worked on this series of paintings during the COVID pandemic lockdown in the UK. I wanted to show how relationships between mothers and daughters can be complicated, especially during that strange, challenging and often sad time. It was a time to show my love for my daughter and somehow to bring her closer to me. The series also acted as a diary. My written entry for 12 April reads: ‘Yesterday my daughter came to the door and, at the prescribed distance, we talked. I had an unbearable need to embrace her, kiss her, touch her hair, smell the scent of her skin.’