© Mother and Child

A tender study of maternal care rendered in mixed media, depicting a mother cradling her child with protective intimacy. The composition employs loose, gestural drawing in charcoal and ink, with areas of warm watercolour wash in pink and purple establishing an emotional rather than literal space. Forms are simplified and rounded, emphasising the vulnerability of both figures. Claerhout’s characteristic compassion and humour emerge through the exaggerated, almost caricatural rendering of facial features, whilst the thick, exploratory mark-making conveys both immediacy and careful observation of daily human experience.