elisabeth van sandick

“A Walk in the Park”  2021

In early 2021, the phrase ‘Text me when you get home’ was shared worldwide after the murder of Sarah Everard, a young woman from London who never made it home. Many women, Van Sandick included, carry everyday objects that, if needed, can serve as weapons: keys between fingers, a screwdriver under the car seat, deodorant as pepper spray. They provide a sense of security, or perhaps just an illusion of it. More than anything, they symbolise the constant alertness with which women move through public space. By portraying these objects, they become markers of an underlying tension. Are we safe, or not?