Always Boxing | Silent Strength and the Sorrow Nobody Sees by KRAB

She isn’t crying. She has already cried. A woman in white — polished, flawless, fully armoured — holds her clenched fist against her face as if to restrain herself or, conversely, to hold herself together. White feathers, white glove, white skin.

And then those lips — jet black, the only thing that breaks with everything else. Her gaze is downcast but not defeated. Traces of tears run down her cheek, already dry before they fell. Black and white strips away everything that doesn’t matter. What remains is this: a woman who has been fighting against something her whole life — and still is.

This work is about the grief that nobody sees because it is so quiet. About the strength it takes to stay standing every day whilst carrying within you what the outside world does not know. About the clenched fist that does not strike but holds on — to herself, her pain, her dignity. From a distance, this is a breathtaking fashion portrait — cinematic, sleek, immediate. Up close, you see the tears. And then you know everything. This work demands a wall that can handle it. The square format works as a solitary statement in a bedroom that radiates honesty, in a modern or hotel-chic living room where this work is the conversation that no one dares to start.

Available on ArtFrame or plexiglass via Werk aan de Muur — on plexiglass, the white takes on a luminosity that makes the woman almost untouchable, and yet so vulnerable. For those who know what it’s like to be strong when no one is watching. Digital art by Karina Brouwer — created in Delft, available to order via Werk aan de Muur on various materials such as ArtFrame or plexiglass.