Awatif 

Acrylic and oil on cradled board

Awatif had a big impact on me the first time I met her. There were so many aspects that were fascinating to me. There are layers of emotion and pain and trauma and care and disassociation as well. Such incredible strength, and so strong to be in recovery, yet also caring and soft.

I noted down a lot of her words, thoughts and my own observations. I wrote these down over and over again on the canvas in layers and layers of writing. This was a really good process for me to engage with who Awatif is and all her layers. The words are hidden in the painting. I like that although they are covered up you can still see those layers and hints of words, like ‘strength’ ‘resilience’ ‘fragility’ and ‘trauma’, to give the sense of her amazing story. There is so much more to her beyond what you see on the surface.