Bianca Raffaella Fragments Clouded by Relief, 2026

It is one of the palest paintings in the exhibition. The canvas is covered in soft lilac, blush and white, with very little contrast. A faint grouping of two figures appears slightly left of centre. The larger form rises behind and around a smaller one. White and pale pink touches briefly suggest heads, shoulders and arms, but neither body is fully described. The figures seem to hover within the surface. Long, thin drips descend through the lower half, while the upper area remains soft and clouded. The image almost disappears if you stop concentrating on it.

This work came from a moment when something began to change. There had been so much fear and exhaustion. Then my son began to seem stronger. I remember him looking upwards with more energy. And I had this sense that he was looking for me. That felt like a turning point.

The image of the Madonna and Child carries this enormous history of idealised motherhood. My experience wasn't idealised. It had been frightening, exhausting and fragmented. So the mother and child in my painting arrive in fragments too.

But there is relief here. Something is beginning to lift.