All kind of ideas for this theme passed my mind, but it took me a while before I really found out what I wanted to do.
On t.v. and social media you see all these people flying their countries to find safety or a better way of life. What is happening is so unbelievable sad and I wanted to make a statement.

Especially now that Europe is closing its borders.
Most of these refugees are on the run from the east (Syria-Afghanistan) to the west (Europe)

I painted a piece of very wet fabric in colors going from black and red (fire, destruction) to blue and green (the grass is always greener on the other side).
On internet I looked for silhouettes and I drew all different kind on paper . I tried to make a stencil of it, but it didn’t work, so I used my light box, traced my design and painted the figures in black on the coloured background.
The barbed wire is partially sewn on by machine and partially embroidered by hand. It represents the closed borders in the south of the continent at this moment.
The echo quilting stands for all the thousands of refugees that are still on the run somewhere in Europe.

Material: Cotton, very diluted acrylic paint, black acrylic paint with fabric medium, monofilament and black cotton thread for quilting, variegated thread for barbed wire, black embroidery floss.

This piece will remind me in years to come about the terrible tragedy that is currently taking place.
March 2016.

Detail: