Aleppo

2018, acrylic painting in an installation, 16” x 17” x 24”

I created this piece in response to the civil war in Aleppo. The acrylic painting in the back of the suitcase is of pre-civil war Aleppo and I collected rocks and rubble to fill the suitcase; I placed them so that they are overshadowing and obscuring parts of the painting in the back in order to juxtapose the beauty and culture of Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War with the destruction in the midst of the war. I also decided to use an old, beat-up suitcase as the vessel for this piece, because the civil war displaced millions of civilians, forcing them to relocate. This piece is installed in a hallway at my school because I wanted to bring attention to the issue in an intimate setting where students could easily view it.