Celine van den Boorn paints over press photographs, causing the people present to disappear into the surrounding landscape. Through her interventions, a reality that initially seems less charged comes into being. Upon closer inspection, however, dull contours and unpainted areas continue to reveal traces of human presence.

These series of works, based on a photograph of Syrian refugees crossing the European border, all figures have vanished beneath layers of paint, leaving only the hands of the refugees and the assisting volunteers unpainted and visible. We see an almost poetic dance of hands of refugees and of volunteers that help them cross a cold, fast-flowing border river (between Greece and Macedonia) so that they can reach Europe.

These works reveal the essence of human contact: strangers offering a helping hand to hands reaching out for help. The visible tension and expression in these hands speak volumes; they convey the fear and hope of the refugees and symbolize both contemporaneity and timelessness, as they represent the personal connection between people in need and those who offer assistance.