NEN

Whilst viewing the research articles and imagery I had collated regarding the Syrian migrant crisis, I was stuck and horrified by the harrowing images of the people, especially the children and the look of sheer desperation and horror portrayed within there little faces. These were just children and in my opinion, every child, no matter what racial or ethnic background, should be bestowed with at the very least the safety and security to innocently grow to adulthood without being exposed to atrocities that no human should be exposed too, especially in an age in which the technological capabilities to ensure this are very much a reality in the western world. However, as long as war is so profitable, the agenda of the world banking elite is still being facilitated and the eyes of general populous still remain firmly and conveniently closed, this so simple of requirements will never be met.

 

The intense vibrancy of the orange life jackets that adorned the petrified little forms couldn't help but draw my attention. In a series of such harrowing, sombre and calamitous imagery, the vibrant glow of the aptly named, life jacket, that has now paradoxically transposed into a talisman of death and desperation, seemed to stand as a continuous archetype associated with the crisis that I felt I couldn't help but use within my body of work. This then went on to heavily influence the installation I assembled in response to the crisis. 

 

I put together a series of meditative prints using the vibrant orange as a base in an abstract and unconscious manner after viewing the Syrian material I had gathered. These prints were then bordered with white calico that was ripped open from the centre outwards and charred in an attempt to reference the derelict and war torn landscapes depicted within the imagery, this also drew upon the Syrian tradition of using white material such as linen to cover the dead. To complete the installation, the same process was used to print a large canvas background on which a centrally hung child's life jacket was printed with copies of images drawn by Syrian children depicting their horrific experiences. I felt that the naivety and innocence of the children's horrific depictions said far more within themselves than anything I could set down and feel they served as chilling reminders as to the cataclysmic situation the children are amerced within. I also feel that the boldness and vibrancy of the orange contrasting the whiteness of the canvas and blackness of the ink, ambiguously portray a certain sense and feel of a contemporary issue.