Original artwork description:

This painting explores the situation and the human condition during the time of the Iraq conflict and the misery brought upon to the inhabitants of this once great nation and one of the richest in the Arab world.

The image was found during one of my searches of the continuing conflict in Iraq and through these searches and looking at the devastating images I was seeing, as an observer on the outside, I came across this image of a Grandmother who was in distress. The way she was holding out her arms seemed, to me, to sum up the situation about what was happening in this part of the world and a question running through my mind as well as hers - Why?

I was so taken by this image I felt I had to paint it and explore, through line and tone, my feelings about this image and the way in which the Coalition soldiers in the background were out of focus, as though they had become an abstract element of the situation, blending into the background.

Materials used:

Oil Paint on Stretch Canvas

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