What can replace a mother’s love?

30″ x 40″ x 1.5″ mixed media on wood.

Available. Email me for details: beth@artbybws.com

This painting was inspired by reflections from a young woman in my PhD research in northern Uganda. She was born of forced marriage inside the rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Many children, especially the girls, who were born inside the LRA feel a special bond with their mothers, who carried them through war to safety and who work so hard to give them a better life. Expressing her gratitude for her mother, this young woman asked, ‘What can replace a mother’s love?’

It’s a profound rhetorical question for all of us to reflect on.