Visualizing Birth through Bob Atisso’s Sand Sculptures


Baby Born, sand sculpture
2m x 1m  x 1.7m, Accra, Ghana
Copyright 2015, Bob Atisso, All Rights reserved.

Originally from the West African country of Togo, Bob Atisso is now an international figure who travels and lives abroad regularly, winning top prizes worldwide for his beautiful sand sculptures. Many of his sculptures are devoted to themes of birth, maternity, parenting, and children.

In Atisso’s 2015 work Baby Born, the artist depicts a fully formed fetus in the proper position and ready to be born. Interesting to the structure of the piece is the baby’s placement within a woman’s head. The birth depicted becomes both an actual and cerebral event.

The piece is helpful in visualizing baby’s positioning during pregnancy, before labor, and in the first stage of labor before the baby exits the cervix. The uterus protects the child and the cervix rests firmly beneath its head. The viewer can also understand the piece as a reminder that a mother thinks often of the birth event during pregnancy and before the event actually takes place. During pregnancy, imagining the child as protected in the womb can help to calm the body as labor approaches.

To view more of Bob Atisso’s works or to contact the artist, visit his website or instagram page.