Original Painting
The Unyielding Gaze is a powerful original painting by Cindy Wykerd that captures the profound innocence and unwavering spirit of a child. The subject’s direct, intense gaze, rendered with striking blue eyes, commands attention and conveys a deep sense of resilience and inherent strength. Subtle white lines and marks on the painting’s surface add an abstract layer, suggesting the presence of challenges or perhaps the flow of life itself, yet the child’s expression remains resolute.
- Acrylic Painting on canvas
- 400mm x 400mm Block-Framed
Cindy Wykerd
Raised in the quiet village of Rusape in Zimbabwe, Cindy Wykerd’s early life was shaped by the rhythms of rural living and the wide, open landscapes of her family’s farm. Her childhood journey continued across southern Africa—through the mining towns of Zambia’s Copperbelt and the windswept coastal town of Swakopmund in Namibia, where desert meets ocean.
Creativity was in her blood. Inspired by her father, a farmer and miner who never let go of his artistic spirit, Cindy began drawing and painting at a young age. Art became a private refuge, a constant thread even as her life took her in many directions.
In the 1980s, Cindy settled in South Africa, where she juggled work in various industries and ran a small business, all while raising three children on her own. During this busy chapter, her passion for art remained quietly alive—never centre stage, but always present.
Today, with her children grown and the joy of grandchildren in her life, Cindy has returned wholeheartedly to painting. Her work is deeply nostalgic, capturing the vast skies, quiet farmhouses, and rugged charm of the Karoo and Free State—places that evoke her past and personal history. While she also enjoys working in bold abstract styles, her deepest artistic connection is with portraiture, where she explores the soul and story within the human face.
