Day to Death

-Coral Nomdo

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As I grow older, I become more fascinated by womanhood - how, as women, we are constantly

discovering how to nurture and navigate ourselves in this world. I try to connect with nature in my daily

life, to understand it, to respect it. I was fortunate as a child to be protected by my parents. I had the

freedom to run through parks with my friends, to play, to dream. But becoming a young, Black woman

came with a price.

South Africa is the rape capital of the world. Gender-based violence is not an abstract issue - it shapes

how I move, how I dress. How I think. I remember once taking public transport into the city, a young

black woman approached me and asked if I was walking in her direction. I said no. She replied, “ I’m

scared to walk alone” I think about what she said to me a lot and how she is doing.

As women, we live in a state of hyper-awareness. I constantly ask myself: “Is someone following me?”

“I wonder if this van is going to stop and try to abduct me?”; “Should I change my top?”; “Is this Uber

safe?”.

The list of ways I have been sexualised and harassed is long, and I am tired. Women are tired.

This image explores the themes and tensions of life and death, safety and fear, and freedom and

confinement. Using red and blue as the colour focal point, shadow play, the bath as a ritual, and the

wine acting as both protector and prison. I place myself in a dreamlike state where the living and the

land meet. Fear wraps itself around our lives like vines. But we must not let fear take away our right to

live.

I am tired of being afraid.

I am tired of women's voices being dismissed.

We are tired

men, Mother Nature is watching you.