YOU DID THAT
When a Gestapo officer pointed at Picasso’s painting, Guernica, and asked, “Did you do that?” Picasso responded, “No, you did.” Inspired by Picasso’s response, my artwork is meant to appear as though it was painted through the eyes of a child who has experienced the horrors of war.
According to UNICEF “Children are the first victims of war. Over 400 million children live in countries affected by violent conflict; many are forcibly displaced, sometimes orphaned and unaccompanied, in search of safety.”
To create the artwork I used soy wax crayons, children’s crayons, colored threads, acrylics, and India ink, which are materials that children usually use. Through the use of sketchiness, bright colors, and organic shapes the artwork seems to appear as if it was made by a child. Even though the work has some kind of naiveness, there is also a feeling of horror and disturbance, overlapping the childlike images.
environmental degradation
what is THE TRUTH?
Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, and although humans have been on earth for only about 6 million years, we have managed to cause irreversible damage to our environment. We constantly look for possible planets to conquer and inhabit, acting as if Earth will soon be extinct. Our planet has survived billions of years and will continue to survive many more. It’s humankind that is heading quickly to its extinction. We’ve all witnessed that while the world was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Earth was taking a “fresh breath.” We live on the most beautiful planet in our universe and instead of appreciating and protecting what we have, we search to inhabit other planets that can never offer us exactly what Earth does. “But the fact is, the more we learn about what is out there, the more we realize how special it is here.” (NASA) According to the United Nations, the current world population is 7.8 billion. Many articles and opinions indicate that human overpopulation is driving species to extinction, and the Earth can’t ecologically sustain such a high number. Additionally, global temperatures are now at their highest, corresponding with levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that have increased since the industrial revolution.
Most environmental degradation comes from the 1% of the richest who own the majority of corporate equity, allowing them to have absolute control of the corporations causing it. Is our environmental destruction due to the 7.8 billion, or the 1% of the billionaires and millionaires that own, control, consume, and thus destroy more than the rest of us do? Are the 7.8 billion the ones that endanger our planet, or the capitalist system, along with the 1% that are in power, that is the root of today’s ecological crisis?
what is THE TRUTH?
Is America (USA) “color blind?”
what is THE TRUTH?
The beauty of the United States of America is that they are the home of many different type of races, cultures and ethnicities. At the same time, more emphasis is given to a person’s skin tone rather than to the actual person. Why can’t we see and appreciate one an other as humans first and not to have prominence on what our skin tone or race is?
I am using soy wax, coating the surface of my painting, creating a thin layer that masks the final artwork, allowing the viewers to look at the paintings as if they're looking at their own truth, often being hidden behind moral, ethical, political, theological, and social dilemmas.
ToNY
Rats are very interesting creatures that have a strong instinct for survival. They constantly scavenge to find food and water and they are definitely taking over New York City. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, rats in New York have had a more limited food source, so they are becoming territorial and cannibalistic. They are ruling the undergrounds of the city and now they are taking over the streets, while the New Yorkers are staying at home. Similarly, throughout history, humans started wars and fought to death to conquer land. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2020 is the Year of the Rat. Even though this year has not started well for the whole world, rats, according to the Chinese, are seen as a sign of wealth and surplus. Like so many viruses that humankind has faced before, we see people being racist and sexist and turning it into a political virus. In my new body of work, ToNY series, rats are the fighters and the survivors.
What is THE TRUTH?
Truth is the opposite of falsehood, and can also suggest a factual, logical or ethical meaning. The concept of truth is often discussed in many different contexts, such as art, philosophy, science, and theology. With this concept in mind, I am interested in exploring the question, "What is THE TRUTH?" and do we see the truth behind the environmental disaster that we have created? How truthful are we towards sexism, racism, anti-feminism, and to so many other social issues? What is our political truth? Do we hide behind the truth? How much of it do we see and how much of it do we conceal? I am experimenting with the use of soy wax, coating the surface of my painting, creating a thin layer that masks the actual artwork, allowing the viewer to look at the painting as if they're looking at their own truth, often being hidden behind moral, ethical, political, theological, and social dilemmas.
Royal Raisins and The Truth
Cyprus, the island in the Mediterranean Sea where I was born and raised, was under the British Protectorate from 1878 to 1914, then under the British military occupation from 1914 to 1922. Cyprus then became a British Crown Colony from 1922 to 1960. During those years, the island had a high production of grapes, so the British Empire decided to make the excess grapes into raisins. At the same time, the British Crown forced the inhabitants of the island to use the raisins in their bread, and there would be consequences if they did not comply. My grandmother didn't like to have the sweet raisins in her bread, so she had to make two types of bread, one the way she liked it (without raisins), and one with raisins (for the satisfaction of the Royal Crown). She would always have the bread with the raisins placed on the counter, in case a British soldier was to knock on her door, but she would hide her “real” bread, as she called it, in a sack of flour. I knew that times were hard during the Colonization, and that the people were forced to endure a lot of oppression, but I never knew that they were monitoring everyone to this extent. We often think about the Royals and the British Empire as a positive influence on the people, bringing civilization and technology, but the truth is that the colonized inhabitants suffered immensely under the British Empire. When one's freedom is taken away, that can only bring suffering and humiliation. “Divide and Conquer” is a strategy that was first used by the Roman and British Empires. This strategy is still used today, directly or indirectly, by many countries in the arena of politics and sociology. Here in the United States, it is the Liberals v. Conservatives, the Democrats v. Republicans, and as they continue to fight, the real enemy continues progressing.
In my latest body of work, I am symbolically depicting the strategy of Divide and Conquer, based on the British Colonization of Cyprus and from my grandmother's and mother's experiences. I use the imagery of raisins and the word “raisins” over and over again, emphasizing through repetition the daily suffering that the Cypriots went through, while also creating a comparison to current events, where the strategy of Divide and Conquer is being used in a variety of forms by numerous countries.
The story of an immigrant
In my previous work, I drew inspiration from the famous poem, “The New Colossus,” which speaks powerfully about refugees struggling to attain freedom from tyranny, and the immortal quest for liberty in the face of injustice. Written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 to help fund the construction of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal in New York Harbor, the poem contains the immortal words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” which are indelibly etched in the collective understandings of anyone who has ever embarked upon a journey to seek a fresh start, or an improved existence. I was exploring the concept of whether or not "absolute freedom" can actually exist, with a focus on the journey of every immigrant in the pursuit of freedom and happiness. Now that I have relocated to the United States and am considered a "legal alien" in this country, I am experiencing first hand the difficulties that an immigrant has to face.
