Together, Growing Strong: 24 x 30 inches, Acrylic on canvas
IN PRIVATE COLLECTION
As Putin amassed troops on the Ukrainian border my sister began to get texts from a young woman to whom she acted as a Mother figure. Should she and her family leave or stay? Leave we said. Get to Poland and we will pay for a hotel. You can see what happens from there. They set off from Kharkiv by car but it was too late. Martial law came swiftly into force and she could not leave without her husband. Stuck in a border town in rented accommodation she began to receive news of her Grandmother who had brought her up who was in Mariupol. Her flat had been destroyed. The flat that she rented out for income in her retirement was destroyed. She and her neighbours were in a basement without basic needs. Hiding. Waiting. Suffering.
Happily they all eventually made it safe to the UK but the resonance of this experience with that suffered by millions in the Holocaust and the war of 1939-1945 and other wars before and since cannot be ignored. The same question returns: what will be our response to aggression? How will we meet the needs of the vulnerable?
The piece has the Ukrainian words Together, Growing Strong placed underground amongst the roots of the national flower. It is a recognition of the fortitude of the Ukrainian people and those like my sister who organised escape routes and accommodation for many victims of war, welcoming them as fellow humans not burdens on the State. It is also a declaration of response to bullies who operate on the global stage.
This piece is part of the Tikkun Olam collection. Click on the images below to explore other pieces in the series.
