PILLARS OF WATOU

A large canvas shows ten female figures arranged around the church of Watou, not coincidentally the location where the work is shown. The landscape stretches around the ten women. It is made up of local landmarks and elements from the cult of Mary. The contrast between Mary’s ubiquity and the absence of other women in paintings, publications and the written history of the village prompted Ilke Cop to immortalise these women in this oil painting. The youngest is 27, the oldest well into her 90s, but each in their own way, they are pillars of society in Watou.