"Goodbye Masa" emerges from a period of profound sorrow, born from the relentless stream of heartbreaking images and videos that flooded my consciousness during the dead of winter. As journalists in Gaza bravely documented their own annihilation and the tragic piling of children's bodies, a suffocating grief mounted within me. In response to this overwhelming emotional weight, I felt compelled to translate this anguish into form.
This painting captures a moment of unbearable tenderness and devastating loss: Samia Al-Atrash bidding a final farewell to her two-year-old niece, Masa. It is an image that embodies the raw, unvarnished reality of human suffering in the face of unimaginable violence. Faced with the enormity of this grief, I turned to a new and unfamiliar technique, employing only a palette knife. This deliberate choice, a departure from my usual methods, proved to be unexpectedly therapeutic, offering a momentary reprieve from the relentless sorrow. The physical act of layering and sculpting the paint, rather than blending, became a visceral expression of the fractured and sharp edges of grief.
"Goodbye Masa" is more than a depiction; it is a testament to the human spirit's capacity to witness and respond to atrocity. It is an act of bearing witness, a cry for empathy, and a profound statement against the dehumanization of those enduring unimaginable hardship. This work stands as a solemn remembrance of Masa and countless others, and a fervent call for justice and liberation. Free Palestine.
