The Western Sahara region remains a disputed land. Under the effects of colonisation from 1908 to 1910, the Tuaregs, the local nomads, had been divided into several fixed areas of activity, limiting their range and the resources they needed to survive, and then, under the effects of drought, the nomads had had to undergo several migrations in search of a new homeland. Today the Tuaregs have moved to settle in Algeria, still fighting for national sovereignty and a suitable homeland. This series of paintings is inspired by the current situation of the Tuareg people, who are still bound by the borders of their existence under the influence of colonisation and climate.

The project draws on Eyal Weizman’s and Fazal Sheikh’s book The Conflict Shoreline: Colonisation as Climate Change in the Negev Desert, and was inspired by the works such as Yayoi Kusama’s Obliteration Room and Tiffany Chung’s cartographic art. The focus on natural and environmentally friendly pigments was informed by a series of paintings titled Made Ground by Yelena Popova.

A series of boundary themed pictures are drawn and painted with soil environmentally friendly materials, using the three elements of dots, lines and surfaces as a theme and the primary colours of red, yellow, and blue as the main colour palette. This series of paintings has been conceived in response to the current condition of neglect as well as displacement of people in Western Sahara.