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Of Sky and Earth #38, oil on canvas, 193 x 220 cm, 2020 |
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This painting is one of the most recent in a series titled "Of Sky and Earth." This series is a tribute to John Ruskin's "Of Truth of Sky" and his deepest concerns for the environment and the future of the world. Paintings in this series generally depict storms, flooding, deserts, and forest fires, while others are meant to reflect the beauty in Nature that we have lost through human neglect. They are nostalgic in that sense, almost as if the paintings belong in a time capsule for future generations to see what Nature used to look like. Many of the paintings in this series include 'The Unknown Woman". She is often depicted as a child lost in a dystopian world. In this painting, this inner child is the small and expressionless boy in the foreground. This painting was inspired by my gut-wrenching response to the displacement and suffering of people, particularly children, that became part of the narrative of 2020. It is estimated that 150 million people are homeless worldwide. Of these, there are more than 79 million forcibly displaced people in the world as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. Almost half are children. |