Bianca Raffaella Tender is the Night, 2025

A pregnant figure sits in the centre of the canvas, cross-legged, with her legs spreading out across the lower half of the painting. She is made from pale whites, soft pinks and coral against the warm Umber of the linen. Her head and torso appear in the upper centre. Her features are indistinct, and parts of her body seem to dissolve into the colours around her. Her hands gather around her tummy. Small, brighter coral marks flicker through the figure, and a concentrated area of white near the belly marks the place where I imagined the baby kicking.

This painting comes from those late nights during pregnancy when I would sit quietly and wait for my son to move. If he kicked, I felt reassured. If he was quiet, I waited. Sometimes I was exhausted, but I didn't want to stop paying attention to him.

I wasn't watching my stomach for movement. For me, the connection was tactile. I would close my eyes and feel. That white area in the painting is almost a translation of touch into light.

A kick. A small answer.