THESE ARE THEIR TEARS
I began this series in 2013 — long before Gaza became a word the whole world knew how to say with grief.
I painted these faces in response to every Palestinian living as a refugee or immigrant, and to every refugee and immigrant in the world — because there have always been too many, and there are more every year. I painted them on flip chart paper, with mixed media and black ink, quickly and urgently, the way the news arrives. The tears are drips — black ink running down faces that refuse to look away. These are not weeping faces. They are looking faces. They see you.
Many countries do not welcome strangers, in total oblivion to how much they themselves contributed to creating the very circumstances that force people to flee. That contradiction has never left me.
And then Gaza.
The war has created so much pain, displacement and loss that there is no going back from it. When the war ends — if it ends — the grief will not end with it. The loss and death and destruction will take decades to sink in. The tears will keep running.
This series has no end. I will keep painting these faces for as long as the world keeps making refugees.
I did not create these works to sell them. But people have stood in front of these faces and understood something — and so some have found new homes with collectors who carry that understanding with them.
At least 10% of every sale goes directly to support children in Gaza.
Mixed media and ink on flip chart paper. Each piece is unique.
I painted these faces in response to every Palestinian living as a refugee or immigrant, and to every refugee and immigrant in the world — because there have always been too many, and there are more every year. I painted them on flip chart paper, with mixed media and black ink, quickly and urgently, the way the news arrives. The tears are drips — black ink running down faces that refuse to look away. These are not weeping faces. They are looking faces. They see you.
Many countries do not welcome strangers, in total oblivion to how much they themselves contributed to creating the very circumstances that force people to flee. That contradiction has never left me.
And then Gaza.
The war has created so much pain, displacement and loss that there is no going back from it. When the war ends — if it ends — the grief will not end with it. The loss and death and destruction will take decades to sink in. The tears will keep running.
This series has no end. I will keep painting these faces for as long as the world keeps making refugees.
I did not create these works to sell them. But people have stood in front of these faces and understood something — and so some have found new homes with collectors who carry that understanding with them.
At least 10% of every sale goes directly to support children in Gaza.
Mixed media and ink on flip chart paper. Each piece is unique.
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Testimonial
I bought it because it is my small contribution to raise awareness in the world that war does not help bring peoples closer together. From the influences between peoples, something good always comes out, and we must fight for this. Merche, collector, Spain |
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Testimonial
I bought my picture after a visit to Fadwa's studio. I completely fell in love with the painting of a girl from the series “These Are Their Tears". She described the painting for me, and I experienced the same feelings. It’s highly relevant these days, thinking of the conflict going on in the world. Sol Kari Onarheim, collector, Norway |
