The art inspiring us
Tired Mother. 2016.
Ayotunde Ayobello
Oil on canvas
In this intimate portrait, Ayobello captures a fleeting yet profound moment between mother and child. The mother, seated in work attire, leans back with eyes closed, her expression caught between fatigue, prayer, and surrender. At her knees, her daughter gazes upward, eyes wide with adoration and trust, her small hand gripping her mother’s arm as if to anchor her. A toy peeks out from the child’s side, a reminder of innocence held in contrast to adult burdens.
The work becomes a meditation on the dualities of motherhood; exhaustion and strength, struggle and joy, the weight of responsibility and the lightness of being seen through a child’s loving eyes.
Ayobello paints not simply two figures, but the invisible threads of care, dependence, and generational hope that bind them.
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