Artwork description:

This is a jigsaw linocut print of a prisoner of the holocaust. This print is part of an ongoing series exploring lost generations throughout history. In this case, I am creating a series exploring Remembrance and the various ways we can remember the past, and those who once lived.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail .

The lino is cut from softcut lino, allowing me to cut a triangular shape separately, denoting what classification you were given by the Nazis in concentration camps. A different colour meant a different classification. Pink, black, brown etc.

I am deliberately choosing to have the person stare out towards the viewer to highlight the importance of what has happened and how these persecutions still exist in the world, revealing how easy society can shift and change in the blink of an eye.

'First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.'

First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller

Materials used:

Linocut Print on Cartridge Paper

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