Darfur

This painting depicts a woman from Darfur, beaten and clinging onto life, looking back at the viewer and wondering why no one is helping her.  Why is she being ignored by the rest of the world? The women and girls in this region are receiving the worst types of violence committed especially against them. This is the image of someone that has hit bottom and is sitting there waiting. However you can see the strength in her eyes, a dim light that is taking refuge in the depths of her pupils, a light that will soon well up and shine bright again.

The image of this painting came to me all at once, in an instant. The surface of the canvas is rough, beaten and worn as is the subject.  To me it’s a painting that is constantly challenging the viewer to solve the answer to an unanswerable question - Why?  Why the violence, the rape, the murder, why against us? Against me? Why is more not being done to help the victims?

This solitary symbol of the victims of Darfur will never relinquish her question of "why". Her gaze digs its questioning stare deep into the viewer looking for answers as do roots dig into dry soil searching for water.