Here we are taking a look at the last four murals placed up around London by Dreph as part of his ‘You Are Enough’ series, taking to East, North and Central London Dreph’s series sets to look at female empowerment through his subjects, all of which are people he knows or has met. With the last four works in this series spread around Brick Lane, Bruce Grove and Soho Dreph is truly making an impact on London’s Street Art scene with his powerful subjects and striking portraiture, all with an inspriing story to tell.

Work in High Road, Bruce Grove, depicting Fungai – subject number 5 in the ‘You Are Enough’ series, of whom Dreph states:

“Fungai was born in Zimbabwe and moved to the UK in 2007, following her adoption by her sister and brother-in-law after the tragic loss of their mother in 2000. She is the last born of 6 children from a blended family. She received her fine art degree from Havering College where she now works as a printmaking technician, she also works at Art Fairs and facilitates community print workshops particularly, for young children. She is in an experimental phase with her art practice, focusing on being expressive through the use of different materials and looks forward to seeing where the journey takes her. Although she misses her homeland she doesn’t take for granted the position she finds herself in and dreams of opening a Print Studio back home in the future. The bronze crochet top worn by Fungai was her formerly her mothers back in the 70’s. For her it signifies strength, confidence and inner peace.”

Work in Star Yard, Brick Lane, depicting Myvanwy Evans – subject number 6 in the ‘You Are Enough’ series, of whom Dreph states:

“Myvanwy was raised in the 80’s pre-gentrification of working class Shoreditch. Incidentally she went to Uni a stones throw from where this mural was painted. She runs the cultural marketing agency Louder Than Words who engage international talent, communities and young people on high profielmedia campaigns for clients such as Tate, MTV and Mayor of London. Myvanwy was raised in a socialist family of political activists, whcich she says has influenced the focus of her work to raise the visibility of important youth and community programmes that positively impact lives. She also mentors young people, helping to steer their careers and individual life journeys. Her view is thatif everyone mentored one young person there would be dramatically loer rates of youth suicide and knife crime. What many that know Myvanwy are unaware of is that she is a trained fine artist, photgrapher and ilustrator. These passions run deep, and her vision for the future is to dedicate more time to her art practice.”

Work alongside work by Carleen De Sozer in Star Yard.

Work in Fashion Street, Brick Lane, depicting Tracy Blackstock, Dreph’s sons Mother – subject number 7 in the ‘You Are Enough’ series, of whom Dreph states:

“Tracy was born and raised in Oxford and is the second youngest of 9 siblings to first generation Jamaican parents. After her studies she spent several years in Jamaica working for an NGO before returning to the UK to work for the probation service and the resettlement aftercare for young offenders. She now project manages a preventative program for children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour(s). These young people in some instances are victims of sexual abuse, exposed to inappropriate sexual behaviours. tracy managesa a group of volunteers who work with the young people to restore such behaviour/responses by develpoing social skills that engage them in their communities. In the future Tracy would like to specialise in the field of child psychotherapy with the view to supporting young people in her local community.”

Work in Wardour Street, Soho, depicting Leyla Hussein – subject number 8 in the ‘You Are Enough’ series, of whom Dreph states:

“Leyla is a psychotherapist specialising is suporting survivors of sexual abuse. She is a leading international campaigner on female genital mutilation (FGM) and her passion is to empower women and girls. Leyla founded the Dhalia Project, the UK’s first specialist therapeutic service for FGM survivors. She created the ground-breaking Face of Defiance project which is a series of photographic portraits and interviewswith FGM survivors. Her documentary “The Cruel Cut” with Channel 4 on FGM in the UK was nominated for a Bafta in 2014. She successfully lobbied at a political level and her e-petition ‘Stop FGM in the UK Now’ gathered over a million signatures, triggering a debate in Parliament on FGM in the UK. As a writer, Leyla has been published in national media and she regularly appears in both print and broadcast as an expert commentator. Leyla was named Cosmopolitan Campaigner of the Year 2010 and she was included in the BBC 100 Women List in 2013, Women’s Hour Power List 2014 and Debrette 500 as one of the UK’s most influential people. Leyla’s drive, passion and tenacity regarding her work is truly admirable. Regardless of the physical and emotional attacks she has received from some members of the Somali community, she is committed to her mission and says “protecting children from harm overides everything”. Creating safe spaces for survivors of violence is deeply rooted in the core values of her work as a psychotherapist and social activist. Going forward she wants to continue building safe spaces globally, particularly in the motherland.”