Sonder
2025.
Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: L30cm xW20cm
This piece began in a quiet corner. A place I used to retreat to when I felt disconnected from the world. I would sit and watch people pass by strangers wrapped in their own rhythms, their own stories. At first, it felt like distance. Like I was on the outside looking in. But slowly, something shifted.
I began to imagine their lives. Not in a voyeuristic way, but in a deeply human one. I started creating narratives who they might love, what they might fear, the small joys they carry in their pockets. And in doing so, I saw the threads that connect us. The themes are all the same once you dare to look beyond the surface: hope, grief, desire, belonging.
This corner, once a symbol of isolation, became a portal. A place where difference no longer felt like separation, but invitation. Each unique face, each unfamiliar gait, became a chance to expand my worldview. To soften my judgments. To remember that being human is a shared experience, even when it looks wildly different from the outside.
Esther Akello 