Courage, Luna’s mother

Many years ago, I had a conversation about professional life with a cleaner at a place I used to work for. The lady told me she was a Maths professor at a university in her hometown and decided to give up her job and come to the UK because she wanted to give more opportunities to her child.

I remember how much that conversation made me think about why I left Brazil and even more about the reasons that made me stay in England. However, at that time, I did not have children nor understand the sacrifices one makes for little ones.

Years later, I met a South American lady at my daughter's nursery who could speak little English. Our daughters were in the same classroom, and I became a translator for her and the teachers.

Luna's madre left many things behind to be in the UK to try to give her children a better life. She missed her family and friends, her culture and language, and the commodity of having a job she enjoys. In London, she had a hella hard life, navigating from the houses she had to clean whilst her kids were at school, juggling between housework and kids' activities, leaving the end of the day's exhaustion to lead her to bed to sleep, till the next day when she had to do it all again.

She neglected herself to provide a better future for her children, while her present fate was to be imprisoned in a strong body with no time to feel. It was a lonely and neglected existence of a woman who showed me incomparable bravery and strength but buried herself after conceiving her children.

Luna's Madre was a memorable painting to create. Each brushstroke was like a praying. I mixed the colours with my tears and my wishes that Luna's mother would see herself again and recognise her value.