SLOOM in NYC ends 11/25

21st century Landscape: Europe. Oil on canvas, with added acrylic sheet, in-carved with directions to dig a trench from military documents, 18 by 24 cm.

21st Century Landscape: Europe' can be viewed as a politicised landscape. It juxtaposes imagery of Europe's historical warfare trenches with the metaphorical divides that currently separate its societies, calling for a transcendent dialogue. It serves as a testament to the enduring human struggle for connection and peace. Painted on a small canvas, it exemplifies the notion that size does not dictate significance; viewers must draw near to discover the image's layered meaning. The work thus emphasises that sometimes the most profound messages are conveyed in the quietest of voices.

‘An eye for an eye and soon we'll all be blind,’ said Gandhi. ‘Nie wieder Krieg’ was Käthe Kollwitz’s cry on her 1924 lithograph. I read on the National Gallery of Art that it’s ‘not on view’… timely as it is.

This landscape painting portrays an inner and outer landscape completely cut up by trenches as we all seem to be in a constant flaring up of conflicts. Imagine we would all live from a shared core of being a human being, vulnerable and resilient, valuing our interconnectedness and interdependence instead of the current ‘bad-othering’ that spins out of control into straight out war accompanied by the cynicism of world leaders warring over the bodies of their population they vowed to protect. 

We might be called naive, but seriously, I myself do not want to be co-creating a society in which we’re shouting (shooting) at one another across an unbridgeable divide (trench). I believe we all share a deep longing to trust the basic essence of being a fleshed human being, a certain quality of presence, a benevolence, a larger sense of self that recognises that we’re all just living life as best we can on this planet, and that we’re connected that way. Imagine we’d intentionally train ourselves to look for that quality and remind each other of it. Would that not be our human superpower to direct us towards a society with a social contract of care? 

My artwork '21st century landscape: Europe', is on view at studioninedee, 516 W 26 St, Chelsea, NY from  11/9>11/25 in a a group exhibition SLOOM featuring 25 international contemporary artists.