The Gentle Refusal explores the complex bond between mothers and daughters and the invisible patterns that can pass quietly from one generation to the next.

The work considers the pain, expectations and emotional burdens we can inherit from those who came before us. The repeated female forms suggest generations layered upon generations, connected by love and shared history, yet also by wounds that were never fully healed.

At the centre is an act of quiet resistance. Breaking a generational cycle does not have to mean rejecting or blaming the people who came before us. Sometimes it is simply a gentle refusal – a decision made with compassion to acknowledge their pain, understand where it came from, but choose not to carry it forward.

The Gentle Refusal is about recognising what belongs to us and what does not, finding the courage to put down inherited burdens, and allowing the next generation to carry something different.

TITLE: The Gentle Refusal
MEDIUM: Recycled Cardboard from food packages, Textiles (fabric, beads), Artificial Flowers, Oil Pastels, Acrylic Paint
SIZE: 77cm H x 47cm W x 20cm D
YEAR: August 2026

*This piece is made from 90% recycled materials

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