Ink and watercolor. Size: 42 W x 29.5 H x 0.1 D cm

The sun is putting on a spectacular show as it slowly sets over the Mediterranean sea.

The overcrowded dinghy floats quietly on the calm sea.

The motor has stopped working a long time ago.

Side by side. So very still. One wrong move can be fatal.

Ahead is just the long, quiet night, and the eerie sound of a slowly deflating dinghy…

“How still,
How strangely still
The water is today,
It is not good
For water
To be so still that way.”

This piece is a part of the project “Out of Africa” focusing on the African migration crisis.

As Libya has become the gatekeeper to the safe haven of Europe many lay their lives in the hands of human smugglers.

They set out on the 200 miles deadly journey on the Mediterranean Sea in overcrowded dinghies made of cheap plastic and equipped with tiny engines with limited fuel.

Most of the boats are only made to just make it into international waters 13 miles from the coast of Libya. MOAS and others alike are their only hope of survival…

30% of the profit of this painting will go to MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station).